Rhonda Kay Quintero

November 21, 1962 — August 24, 2023

Princeton, TX

Rhonda Kay Quintero, 60, of rural Princeton, Texas, died at her home on August 24, 2023, after a bravely fought battle with cancer. She was born Rhonda Kay O'Mack on November 21, 1962, at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, the third of four children born to Harry and Joann O'Mack. The young family lived at the time in a rented farmhouse in Plymouth, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis. Harry was a hardworking blue-collar man, Joann was a devoted wife and mother.

In 1964, Harry and Joann moved their family to another old farmhouse near Princeton, Minnesota, where Rhonda and her siblings enjoyed a life surrounded by woods, lakes, and open fields, and filled with the special happiness that horses, dogs, and assorted farm animals bring. An energetic little girl with blond hair and sparkling blue eyes, Rhonda was "Flossie Mack" to family and friends, chasing chickens and pigs across the 40 acres of sand and poplar trees that her parents had managed to buy and hoped to farm someday. The scenery and creatures of rural places remained a touchstone for Rhonda throughout her life.

In 1970, Rhonda's family moved to Illinois where they lived once again in an old farmhouse near a small town, first at Farmer City and later at Melvin. Rhonda graduated from Melvin-Sibley High School in 1981, one of just a dozen or so students in a tightly knit senior class. She spent the next few years in nearby Champaign, working and attending Parkland College. In 1984, she moved with her family to Long Island, New York, where Harry was born and raised, and where most of his extended family still lived. There Rhonda met and fell in love with Kenneth Quintero of Brentwood, New York, whom she soon married. In 1986, Rhonda and Ken moved to southern California to build a new life and begin a family. Their three children, Ellese, Karis, and Wyatt, were all born in California, in 1987, 1990, and 1993, respectively. In 1993, their youngest child still a baby, Rhonda and Ken moved the family to Princeton, Texas, where they bought a beautiful old house in the country, tucked into a grove of towering pecan trees, and that is where all three children grew to be the fine adults they are today, credits to their mother's memory.

Rhonda loved the rural landscapes of every place she lived, but of all outdoor places she was most fond of the beaches and ocean of Long Island. It was part of the special bond that she and her late father shared, and she visited Long Island as often as she could after she moved away. Earlier this summer, painfully ill and knowing her time was short, she made one last trip to Long Island to visit her sister Heidi and walk the sands at Smith Point.

Rhonda is survived by her mother, Joann Beverly (Bjork) O'Mack, 86, of Princeton, Texas; her sister, Bambee Jo Mehrman, 66, of Princeton, Texas; her brother, Scott Harold O'Mack (Lourdes DeLeon), 64, of Tucson, Arizona; her sister, Heidi Caroline O'Mack-Jemal (Joshua Jemal), 53, of Holtsville, New York; her former husband, Kenneth Quintero, 62, of Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste, Costa Rica; her daughters, Ellese Kay McCollom, 35, of Allen, Texas, and Karis Ann Quintero, 32, of Dallas, Texas; her son, Wyatt Harley Quintero (Nicole Elise [Esposito] Quintero), 30, of Dallas, Texas; her granddaughter, Haylee Cheyenne McCollom, 16; her grandson, Everett Joseph Quintero, 1; the many members of her extended family; and her many friends. She was preceded in death by her father, Harry Joseph O'Mack; her nephew, Justin David Larsen; and the many family members of earlier generations whom she knew and Loved.

Goodbye, Rhonda. Last week, as we watched you leave us, your face, your voice, your hands were sweet and gentle and wise, filled with the lessons and pleasures of your full life. Now we struggle to believe you have gone away forever. We pray that your kind soul, now on its long, final journey, is unburdened by sadness or regret and filled with the boundless love we feel for you. May you always see the faces, hear the voices, feel the hands of the family and friends who love you. And may we always feel your hand in ours, and see your face before us, and hear your voice and laughter. Our time on Earth is short, but not so short that we can't love truly and feel deeply. We truly loved you, Rhonda, and we deeply feel your absence.

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Rhonda Kay Quintero

November 21, 1962 — August 24, 2023

Princeton, TX

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