Rita Houston

Rita Houston, age 99 years and 289 days, of Allouez, passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. She was proud of the fact that she had celebrated 100 Thanksgivings, Christmases, Easters, and Cinco de Mayos.

Rita was born on Oct. 23, 1926, in Chicago to John and Bernice (Gorski) Mianecki. When she was 6 months old, her family moved to Allouez, where she resided for 94 of her remaining years. She was the third of six children and was raised in a home without electricity, indoor plumbing, or a telephone. Along with running a landscaping business, her family grew produce for the local grocer, and she and her siblings had to walk strawberries to the market without bruising them. She came by her work ethic honestly.

The Mianecki family home was sandwiched between the Reformatory (Green Bay Correctional Institution) and the Town and Country Golf Course. Around the age of seven one of her favorite pastimes was walking over to the prison recreational yards to watch baseball and basketball games and listen to the outdoor concerts performed by the inmates.

Another pastime was hanging out at the golf course watching the players. She thought the game was foolish but loved to find golf balls. One day she picked up a broken 5-iron she found on the course and nailed the head to a broom handle, for the purpose of hitting all her golf balls over the Reformatory wall.

Times were tough during the war, and money was scarce, so she took a job at H.C. Prange Co. to help pay her way and assist her family. At 17, she graduated from East High School and went on to work in the district attorney’s office and then a law office in Chicago. During the war, trips home were difficult, as gas was rationed, and the trains were reserved for servicemen, so she bought her first set of golf clubs to occupy her free time. She and her sister, Jean, would take a streetcar to the driving range and wait an hour to hit a 50-cent bucket of balls.

At 24, she decided to try her hand at something new and tried out for the Rockford Peaches professional baseball team. After two weeks of constant running, black-and-blue hands, and repeatedly sliding under a broom stick into base wearing the uniform of the era — a skirt — she decided her skin was more important than being a professional baseball player. She knew that she could accomplish anything she put her mind to, but also knew that she didn’t have to do everything. She was a spitfire with a lot of energy, determination, and integrity.

When her brother came home from the war, she returned to Green Bay where she went to work for Brown County and its social services department, and later as a secretary at Northwest Engineering. She became captivated by golf and spent her free time hitting golf balls at the Town and Country driving range until dark with her friends, sometimes even painting the balls with fluorescent paint so they could play at night. With little instruction but a lot of determination, Rita became the face of Wisconsin women’s golf in Northeast Wisconsin during the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. She hung out with a group of like-minded women — pro- and top-of-the-pack golfers — but she had time for the rest of the pack, too.

It was at the golf course that she met her husband, Ken. Three years later in 1954, they were married. During their 34 years of marriage, they raised two daughters, Holly and Caryn “Kerry”. Ken’s steadfast support allowed Rita to travel and compete in golf tournaments throughout the U.S., Bermuda, Mexico, and Canada. She holds a very impressive win record in tournaments from the Wisconsin Women’s Northeastern to the Mexican Amateur Open. She was also an avid curler and trap shooter in her earlier years, and owned and operated The Wheel Barrel, a roller skate shop in downtown Green Bay.

Rita taught golf lessons for the YMCA, went on medical missions to the mountains of Northern Mexico, and sponsored and taught numerous Cuban refugees in honor of her deceased daughter, Kerry, who was an interpreter at Fort McCoy. Rita served as a mentor to her grandson, Kevin, during his Special Olympics golf career, traveling with him throughout the country. She was also a member of the USGA Rules Committee, the Wisconsin State Golf Association Hall of Fame board, a board member of the Northeast Wisconsin Golf Association, and also rated golf courses.

She spent her downtime creating and tending beautiful gardens at her family home in Allouez. In October 2007, she cofounded the Historic Allouez Society and was a walking encyclopedia of Allouez history always ready to share stories.

Rita’s sights were set high, her determination was huge and her accomplishments were many, all while keeping her family in the forefront.

She will be greatly missed by her daughter, Holly (James) Dudley, and grandson, Kevin Erickson. She is further survived by her sister, Marge Zdziarski; sister-in-law, Rose Mianecki; many nieces and nephews and Jim’s four children and their families. She was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth; daughter, Caryn “Kerry”; parents, John and Bernice Mianecki; siblings and spouses, Jean (Richard) Mikulsky, Ernest (Janice) Minecki, Richard “Butch” Mianecki, Casey Zdziarski, Eleanor “Ellie” (Robert) Van Kauwenberg and in-laws L.E. and Elizabeth Houston, Robert (Carol) Houston, and Allan Houston.

Special thanks to Nicole at Bellevue Senior Living, some very special Angels in Building 2 at Angels Touch and Melissa and Kathy of Unity Hospice. Rita’s biggest wish was to have a party to celebrate her life, which will take place at Oneida Golf & Country Club on Sept 10, 2026, 2:00-5:00pm. 

A private graveside ceremony was held for her earlier.