Columbia, MD - Former Fairmont businesswoman Rita Stern, 99, died February 9, 2026, in Columbia, MD, with her daughters at her side.

Born September 5, 1926, in Pittsburgh, PA, Rita and her family later followed her father, an Army dentist, to bases in Maryland, Virginia and Florida before and during World War 2, moving nine times during her high school years. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1948 and worked as an administrative assistant in Pittsburgh before her marriage to the late Henry Stern, which brought her to Fairmont. There they started the Outlet for Arts and Crafts, with branches in Fairmont and Morgantown.

After their retirement in 1996, they moved to Columbia to enjoy their grandsons. Rita was active in several organizations in both Fairmont and Columbia, including Soroptimists, Meals on Wheels, and National Council for Jewish Women.

She is predeceased by her husband of 60 years, her parents and her sister, and is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Renee Stern and Michael Walsh of Renton, WA, and Shelley and Robert Cohen of Columbia, and grandsons Eli Cohen of Columbia and Benjamin Cohen of Annapolis, MD.