CUMBERLAND

LeeAnnette (Barros) Rao, 72, of Cumberland, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 3, 2025, surrounded by the love of her family. She was the wife of Robert D. Rao, and they had been married for the past 35 years.

Born in Mooresville, NC, she was the daughter of Betty (Freeman) Barros of Mooresville, NC, and the late Lionel Barros. She resided in North Carolina until the age of 5, later moving to Central Falls, where she was raised, before settling in Cumberland in 1996.

Mrs. Rao held various roles in the medical field, beginning as an X-ray technician and working in the cancer center at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence. She later became an administrative assistant for Dr. Vincent Armenio for many years until her retirement.

LeeAnnette was an avid quilter. She was a member of Arnold Mills Monday Mentors and the Cumberland Friendship Quilt Guild, where she served as the instructor for their "UFOs." Those who loved her will remember her caring and nurturing nature, as she became a mother figure to everyone she knew.

In addition to her husband, she leaves behind her children, Jeremy Daugherty of Bruceton, TN, and Rebecca Rao and her fiancé, Darin Tripoli, of Chepachet, RI; her siblings, Michael Barros and his wife, Paula, Deanna Bradshaw, Laura Machowski and her husband, Leo, Brenda Fournier and her husband, Ronald, and Linda Medeiros; as well as several nieces and nephews.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to LeeAnnette's Life Celebration, beginning with Visiting Hours on Friday, March 7, 2025, from 5 to 8 PM and continuing on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 10 AM at J. J. Duffy Funeral Home, 757 Mendon Road, Rt. 122, Cumberland. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11 AM at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Fatima Drive, Cumberland.

ONLINE MEMORIAL: jjduffyfuneralhome.com