Obituary of Ritva A. Cepeda
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Dearest family, friends, and loved ones,
It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the passing of Ritva Alice Cepeda: beloved wife, mother, and grandmother. On the morning of Wednesday, June 12th, our sweet matriarch made her journey to Heaven.
Our hearts are at ease knowing that she is in the warm embrace of her parents, family members, and life-long friends. Our hearts are heavy with pain, knowing that it will be long until we see her again.
Despite ultimately succumbing to complications due to pneumonia, she continued living her life until her last days: drinking coffee in the mornings, taking daily walks with her husband of 50 years, feeding the squirrels in Inwood Park, watching her favorite films on Turner Classic Movies, and spending time with her grandchildren.
Born in Helsinki, Finland, Mrs. Cepeda (nee Vanttinen) would immigrate to New York City with her family in the early 1950s, and move to the Bronx where her family took care of buildings. She would learn English in night school, work at a Christmas card factory, and watch every Ingrid Bergman film released. One day at a club, she would listen to a man sing, who she would later fall in love with. Together, they raised his daughter, and were formative in the raising of their granddaughter, and later grandchild. They were by one another's side until the very end.
Inwood residents for half a century, a day wouldn't go by where one wouldn't see Mr. and Mrs. Cepeda seated in Inwood Park, talking with friends at the tennis courts, and enjoying an ice cream on a hot summer's day, always wearing her favorite rhinestone baseball cap and turtle brooch.
There are few words to express our deepest gratitude for the outpour of love and support that we have received as a family as we navigate this heart wrenching loss.
We thank God for allowing her to transition into this next phase with ease. Our lives will never be the same.
May your hearts be filled with peace.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ritva Cepeda, please visit Tribute Store
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In Loving Memory
Ritva Cepeda
1935 - 2024
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Riverdale Funeral Home Inc.
5044 Broadway
New York, New York 10034
P: (212) 942-4000
F: (212) 942-4626
E: riverdalefuneralhome@verizon.net
