Rosalie Suzanne Garrett Epps

EPPS, Rosalie Suzanne Garrett, of Richmond, died November 16, 2008 after a brief illness. Rozanne was born October 29, 1922 in Jacksonville, Florida, the eldest child of George Palmer Garrett and Rosalie Toomer Garrett of Kissimmee, Florida. Shortly after her birth, her family moved from Kissimmee to Orlando, where Rozanne attended public elementary and junior high schools before boarding schools: first, Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, and then The Kent Place School in Summit, New Jersey, from which she graduated in 1939. She matriculated at Vassar College, from which she received her B.A. degree in 1943. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1974, she was awarded a Master of Arts from Goddard College. Following her graduation from Vassar, she worked for Naval Intelligence in the Pentagon until the conclusion of World War II, when she left the Navy to write a column for Pathfinder magazine. In 1946, she was accepted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law for the Class of 1949 as one of only three women admitted to that class. She declined the offer, however, and instead, in August, 1946, married Augustus Charles Epps of Richmond, to whom she was married for fifty-eight years until his death in 2004. In 1965, she joined the staff of the Evening College and Summer School at Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University), of which she served as Assistant Director, and then Associate Director and Assistant Dean. From 1980 until 1986, she held the position of Director, Evening, Summer and Off-Campus Studies, retiring from the post in 1986 upon her appointment by Governor Baliles to the Board of Visitors of VCU. She served two terms on the board. She was a founder and for many years a teacher of the University's Focus on Career Choice programs (originally Focus on Choice for Women), which has served as a bridge for many students, especially women, returning to the work force. Upon her departure from VCU, Rozanne began her long time association with Style Weekly, where she was an assistant editor and columnist, writing for many years the Rosie Right column as well as a number of back page opinion essays. For a number of years, she was the editor of The Back Page. In January of this year, she joined the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society as a staff member. She was a member of The Woman's Club, The Junior League of Richmond and The Country Club of Virginia. Survivors include her three sons, Augustus Charles Epps Jr. and John Daniel Epps of Richmond, and George Garrett Epps of Washington, D.C.; two daughters-in-law, Ellen Elizabeth Spong and Patricia Kyle Epps of Richmond; two grandchildren, Daniel Spencer Epps of Charlottesville, and Margaret Butler Love Epps of Washington, D.C.; and a sister, Alice Garrett McClelland of Hobe Sound, Florida. Her brother, George Palmer Garrett Jr. of Charlottesville, died earlier this year. The funeral will be November 19, 2008, 11 a.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Richmond. Burial will follow at Hollywood Cemetery. The family requests that flowers be omitted. Memorial contributions may be made to the Rozanne Epps Scholarship Fund at Virginia Commonwealth University or the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.