Obituary of Margaret Ann Rose

Margaret Ann Schlaugat Rose died peacefully in her home at the age of 96, surrounded by loving family. She was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard James Rose, daughter Barbara Frances, brothers Warren (Patricia) and Walter (Mary Ellen) Schlaugat, family members Roberta Rose, Richard Rose (Renate), Margaret Mary Cook (John) and nieces Sandra and Karen Schlaugat and Margaret Cook. She is survived by her sister-in-law Patricia Gillam, and children James Joseph Rose, Kathleen Croll (Nick Stankovic), Mary Boussios, Jean Rose (Thomas McLane), Thomas Rose (Shaun), Peggy Young (Joe), grandchildren Matthew and Michael Croll, Elizabeth Scanlan, David Knorr, Rebecca Rose, Katherine Rose, Patricia, Daniel, and Percy Young, and twelve great grandchildren.

 

Margaret was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and spent idyllic summers at the family cottage on nearby Pike Lake. At 18 she joined the United States Cadet Nurse Corps and completed nurse's training at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago in 1946. That year her brother Warren talked her into going to a birthday party for a friend he had served with in the US Army Signal Corps during the war. She and the friend, Leonard Rose, married six weeks later. She and Leonard started their family of seven children living in Evanston, Illinois, hosting frequent homemade pizza parties for family and friends. Jobs required moving first to Maplewood, New Jersey, then Tucson, Arizona, College Park, Maryland, and then Georgetown and Austin, Texas. They retired back to Tucson in 1986.

 

 We will remember Margaret for the joy and beauty she found in the smallest things, her curiosity, love of rocks and a good mystery, her green thumb, the generations of lizards and hummingbirds she befriended, and her appreciation and love for neighbors, friends, and family. Margaret created wonderful family memories reading to her children at bedtime and singing with them while doing dinner dishes and at family gatherings with her beautiful voice singing harmony effortlessly. She took outstanding care of all, organizing in her "program director" mode so no detail was ever forgotten or left undone. Her generosity, humor, kindness, integrity, and resilience live on in Spirit, Love, and Light for all whose lives she touched. We love you with all our hearts, Margaret Rose.

 

There will be no service at this time at her request. A private family gathering will be held at a later date to celebrate her life.