Rita B. (Koblenz) Beland

Rita (Koblenz) Beland, of Watertown, died at her home on Saturday, June 20, 2026. She was 76. She loved with her whole heart, and she loved being a mother more than anything in the world.

Rita was born in New York City on March 25, 1950, the daughter of the late Sidney and Ida Koblenz. She was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, and graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

After college she met Paul Beland, and the two began the love story she would carry for the rest of her life. The couple made their home in Cambridge for twelve years before settling in Watertown in 1985 and starting their family. First came her son, Jason, and then her daughter, Leah, whom she and Paul were overjoyed to welcome.

In September 1993, Paul died of cancer. His tragic loss left Rita widowed at 43, with a six-year-old son and a baby daughter. She devoted herself fully to raising Jason and Leah, filling their childhoods with experiences, memories, and opportunities, the very things that shaped the people they became.

John Sanders, Jason and Leah’s uncle, stayed after Paul died and became part of the family, their beloved “Unc.” He remains Rita’s devoted partner and companion, and one of her oldest and dearest friends.

For the last sixteen years, Rita embraced perhaps her most special role of all: grandmother to Ava, though the word hardly covers it. To Ava she was “Mima,” a boundless source of love, safety, and belonging, and Ava was in every way one of Mima’s own.

She used to tell her children that her love was like sunlight: there was always more than enough to go around. Everyone who knew her felt its warmth.

She leaves her son, Jason Beland of Maynard; her daughter, Leah Beland, MD, and son-in-law, Max Willinger, MD, of Plainview, New York; her cherished granddaughter, Ava Beland; her sister, Denise Koblenz of Plainfield, New Jersey; and her loving partner, John Sanders of Watertown. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Paul, and her sister, Marcia Koblenz.

A funeral service will be held at 12 noon on Wednesday, July 1st at the Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Route 20), Waltham. For family and friends who cannot be there in person, the service will be available by video link. Committal services at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), P.O. Box 49104, Baltimore, MD 21297, or at nami.org  as this was a cause she was always passionate about.