SHAWANO, WI- This Sunday evening, the Shawano community will gather to honor the life and legacy of Rita “Red Hat Rita” Trinko with a special memorial walk. Known throughout the area for her signature red hats and her love of walking, Rita’s daily miles made her a familiar and beloved face in town. The walk will begin at 6 p.m. at Franklin Park, with participants traveling down Main Street in tribute to a woman whose determination, resilience, and personality left a lasting mark on everyone who knew her.
Her son, Mark Trinko, recently returned to Shawano after three decades away and says the support he has received since his mother’s passing has been overwhelming. “It is amazing how many people loved and knew my mother. My mom was one of the neatest people in the world,” Trinko said. “Although she would tell you if she had an opinion, this community has rallied around us, and it’s humbling.”
Mark says walking wasn’t just something his mom enjoyed, it was part of who she was. “She started out walking 12 miles, then after she was hit by a car and had a metal femur put in, she worked her way back up to six miles,” he recalled. “Then she fell off a ladder during a windstorm, and even after that, she was back to walking four miles a day. That’s just who she was, stubborn, determined, and she was gonna do it.”
Her passion for walking became part of her identity in Shawano. Mark said she often walked for no particular destination, simply because she loved it. “She’d walk six miles from our house to the old Chicago Northwestern tracks and back, and she never needed a reason,” he said. “She just wanted to do it. And I think that strength and persistence is what people remember most about her.”
The walk this Sunday is more than just a way to remember Rita’s miles, it’s a chance for the community to come together and honor the qualities she embodied. Mark says that even after years away, coming back to Shawano has reminded him of the power of community. “I’ve been gone for 30 years, and now that I’m back, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate my home,” he said. “This community has been great to my wife and myself, and I know my mom would be so proud to see everyone coming together to remember her.”
For Mark, the memorial walk is also a way to say thank you to the people who stood by his family through both good times and hardship. “When she was hit by a car, this whole community was rattled, they wanted to know what happened, they cared,” he said. “The doctors told us the only reason she survived those accidents was because she walked so much and stayed in such good shape. That was my mom, she never gave up, and she never stopped moving forward.”
The event is open to the public, and Trinko hopes to see both familiar faces and new ones among those walking in her honor.
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