Rosalia Gillespie

Rosalia Thersia Gillespie passed away on the evening of Friday, February 12, 2016 at the age of 74 in Texas City, Texas. To her friends and family she was known as Rosie Gillespie.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday February 18, 2016 at 9am to 10am for gathering of friends and family, with 10am to 11am being the official service at the Emken-Linton Funeral Home located on 5100 E.F. Lowry Expressway in Texas City. Her ashes will be interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Dickinson, Texas at a later date.

Rosie was born on August 15, 1941 in Balfour, North Dakota to Dominic Tuchscherer and Dorothy Geisinger. She was the youngest of four siblings, relishing always being the youngest of her older sister and two older brothers. The family soon moved to Rugby, North Dakota where her father was a businessman and farmer.

The briefest of family history of the Tuchscherer's begins with Dominicus Tuchscherer, who was born in Odessa, Russia on March 13, 1860 to parents of German decent. In 1884, the family moved to America settling in South Dakota, later establishing themselves in North Dakota along with many of German decent. Rosie moved to Texas in her early twenties where she worked for an insurance company. She would later wed Charles Reagan Gillespie on September 25, 1964, moving to Texas City, Texas where they spent their 50 plus years together. She was raised Roman Catholic and continued in her faith attending St Mary's Church in Texas City, part of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston throughout the remainder of her life.

Rosie devoted much of her time serving first as a volunteer at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Texas City, Texas to becoming its Librarian, where she began to hold immensely successful annual fund raisers for the book collection. Having only had one year of college previously, she had the courage to get her AA degree and teaching accreditation along with many other librarian certifications. She would go on to teach at St. Mary Catholic School in League City, Texas. She touched a number of generations with her creative teaching techniques. She accomplished all her education in her later years by taking courses one by one, semester by semester while maintaining a full time job, being a full time housewife, and enduring the arduous task of being a full time mother to her spoiled son. I'm proud of you mom.

Rosie is survived by her husband, Reagan Gillespie, and her son, C. Wayne Gillespie; her favorite older sister Bernadine (Bernie) Hoffman; numerous nieces and nephews living across the country; and her special friends Jerry Lynn, Cheryl, Kathy, Sandy, Gloria with too many others to list from her birthday and gaming clubs. Basically all my friends consider her a second mother and it will break me to list them all.

Over the years she had many cats as part of the family, all but one fur-ball, Sebastain of the Persian breed were an adopted stray kitten. Regardless of pedigree and temperament they lived the life of riley with the latest near feral cat she rescued on a cold rainy day behind the garage missing her dearly, having no one to jump at from a hidden corner. She always wanted one last white Persian like she had when she was a child. Her naming conventions for the cats was a NSA secret evidenced by the infamous Sequejo, never to be spelled the same way twice to the chagrin of the local veterinarian.

She loved fishing and crabbing. She could bake German pastries like no other mother, chocolate donuts being a favorite along with kuga, and perhaps not so German, cinnamon rolls. She could make a grilled cheese seem like the only food necessary or in existence. She made me feel like the only person in existence. I didn't say it often enough, I love you mother.

Thanks to the family for all the effort at this time. And those looking to honor the memorial consider making a donation to a favorite charity, she would love anything involving kitty cats or school libraries of course. Or go to your favorite "legal" gambling establishments and play the machines thinking of her. And we all know what I mean by legal, look at the quotes.

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