Obituary: Rita Pomerance Damon
Rita Pomerance Damon, Atlanta, died peacefully on March 1 at the age of 92.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Ben Damon, in February 2015. She also lost her second daughter, Carole, in 2012, her older brothers Leon and Elliott, and many friends and family. She is survived by her daughter Beth and son David. Rita was the daughter of Aaron Pomerance and Rose Simowitz Pomerance, of Blessed Memory, in Augusta, where she grew up.
Rita and Ben moved to Atlanta from Baltimore after getting married in 1947. They briefly lived in Buckhead before moving to their home in Morningside in 1952. They attended Ahavath Achim Synagogue and were active in their three children’s educations and activities. They, and for the last year, she, lived independently in their home until her health began to fail.
To know Rita was to love her. She sincerely cared about everyone she met. She had a fantastic green thumb, winning statewide contests for her camellias and planting 100 tomato plants of many varieties every year, started from seed in the house, and from cuttings of those. She used a 1950’s hand-cranked juicer to make tomato juice that she froze for drinking throughout the winter.
An enthusiastic and skilled Jeopardy fan, she rivaled the champions. She was a prolific reader, jewelry-maker, seamstress, and was her children’s “business manager.” Her advice was indispensable. She worked with her friend of 80+ years, fellow Augusta native Hilda Ney, selling antiques and collectibles.
Rita was devoted to her family and was Ben’s caretaker for the last 15 years of his life when he became blind from macular degeneration. She was still active and vibrant until his death last year, but losing her 68-yr life partner–literally her other half, hit her hard. Together they enjoyed every minute of their long and well lived lives, with a palpable devotion to each other and to family.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the charity of one’s choice or to us.whales.org; opposition to whale and dolphin captivity was one of Rita’s strong passions.
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