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Anna-Maria Rzuczek was born on May 31 1962 in Worcester, Massachusetts to Francis and Irene LaCanfora and passed away suddenly on December 30 2025 in Tillamook Oregon. Anna lived in Rutland, Mass with a large family where she was the youngest. The home was a historic school house. Christmas was always a time for all family members to gather and celebrate. Anna graduated from Wachusett Regional High School in Holden Mass. in 1980. Anna was preceded in death by her father, mother and brother Rocco LaCanfora. Surviving brother and 4 sisters – Rosalie Pavlis (husband Mike) of Massachusetts, Mary Hoey (late husband James) of Massachusetts, Francine Flattery (husband Steven) of Massachusetts, Rita Campanale (husband Peter) of Massachusetts, Robert LaCanfora (wife Dianna) of Rhode Island, and Christina Able (husband Mark) of Vermont was a very special niece that more of a sister to Anna. She was also godmother of Marisa Piers Gamble of Massachusetts. There are 10 nieces and nephews along 13 great nieces and nephews. Now the story is told by her husband Jake from Tillamook OR. Anna at an early age got into Hi-tech industry. This is the computer chip making factories. She joined Digital Equipment Company (DEC) in 1987 and was part of a group that made the world’s fastest computer chip known as the ALPHA Chip. Now it gets interesting. In the FAB (wafer fabrication clean room) she was a technician responsible for wafers (where thousands of chips exist) that get processed in million dollar equipment. That machine was made by Applied Materials. Guess who worked for Applied Materials. You got it, Jake. I just moved from NJ to Massachusetts due to a new job. If you remember old Intel commercials there were Bunny People. That was us. We met outside the FAB in meetings. I took her out to lunch and started dating. We got married (hitched) in Jaffery NH in 1996. It was wonderful day for all. Everything was going great. Spending lots of time with both families. What could change? Digital Equipment had a lawsuit against Intel for copying the ALPHA CHIP design. Digital was probably going to win the lawsuit so Intel purchased Digital. Part of Digital was sold to Compaq then sold to HP. Anna was at HP for a few months. Jake was forced to move to Oregon or get laid off. I turned down the move. Then HP was going to layoff Anna. Our arms were twisted and moved to Oregon. How did we get to Tillamook? We met realtor Pam by a restaurant near the Wilson River. I saw a fisherman down on the river catching some giant steelhead. Tillamook was a winner even with a two hour drive back and forth to Hillsboro. It was tough for Anna to find a job in the Tillamook area due to her hi-tech background. She got a position at the Creamery to help with everything needed to make their famous ice cream. She (we) made good friends with David, Annett, Marline, Gary and Hank. I know there was a few more, I just don’t remember. What could go wrong? Downsizing. She was laid off. She became a Master Gardener and made some new friends. We worked together on projects at the fairgrounds. Finding a job was tough. Along came the Garibaldi Museum and Emmy Lou who recognized her talents. She was the manager. She was into all the opportunity Emmy and the BOD gave her. It was more than a job but a passion. The BOD meetings were more like a family gathering rather than a business meeting. I was proud to volunteer and help Anna and the museum. We enjoyed working with Chris, Christie, Bob, Terry, Val, Lois, Paul, LaDonna, Karna, Carla, Gayle and Judy. The most enjoyable were fund raising events and cat adoptions (we got Zelda and Zorro). COVID came along and we thought it best for Anna to stay home. She resigned and went into retirement. Her passion was gardening. The gardens were super. There was always someone stopping by to admire her work in Massachusetts and Tillamook.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Anna’s memory to United Paws (link provided on this page)
