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Duggan's Serra Mortuary - Daly City

500 Westlake Avenue

Daly City, California

Rosemary Henry Obituary

Name: Visitation for Rosemary Henry
Start: 2015-09-27T23:00:00.000Z
End: 2015-09-28T02:00:00.000Z
Location: Duggan's Serra Mortuary - Daly City

Rosemary (Santonicola) Henry

Passed away on September 22, 2015 at 78 in San Francisco, CA. Though her death gives us sadness, we celebrate an amazing life, lived to its fullest. Our lives were enriched by her beauty, style, warmth and grace. Born in Merrick, NY and a graduate of SUNY, Albany ('58), Rosemary's love of teaching took her to France and Japan. A visit to San Francisco never ended. She changed careers and met the love of her life; they loved to travel and lived briefly in Bolivia and Singapore, always returning to San Francisco.

Rosemary played piano, loved the opera and ballet, was a gourmet cook and a gourmand, active in her community, an enthusiastic shopper and always ready with a kind word or shoulder to lean on. She made friends wherever she went. Rosemary loved her family deeply, cherished her friends and was the best wife-sister-mom-grandma-aunt-godmother ever.

She is survived by her devoted husband, James Henry, brothers Vincent, Anthony and Frank Santonicola, sister Ann Konstant, daughters Pam (Scott) Carey and Beth (Dwaine) VanClute, her beloved grandson Zack (Carey), nephews Will and Steven, nieces Donna, Chris and Julie, their wonderful families and her many cherished lifelong friends.

Services will be held at Duggan's Serra Mortuary, 500 Westlake Avenue, Daly City, CA. Visitation: Sunday, September 27 from 4:00-7:00 pm. Funeral service: Monday, September 28 at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wildlife Conservation Network.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle from Sep. 24 to Sep. 26, 2015.

Memories and Condolences
for Rosemary Henry

Sponsored by Duggan's Serra Mortuary - Daly City.

9 Entries

Audrey

September 18, 2023

HI Jim,
Hope all is well with you. Thinking of Rosemary on this anniversary of her passing. She was a gift to the world and especially her family and friends.
Sending light and hugs,
Audrey

Audrey Punnett

September 18, 2022

How nice to have a reminder of Rosemary! I miss her as I am sure Jim and the family do as well. Wishing everyone safety and good health.

Audrey Punnett

September 18, 2020

Thanks for this reminder about the passing of Rosemary. I so cherished her friendship and her wonderful gourmet meals. She is very much missed as she made this world a better place through her love and generosity.

November 20, 2015

Rosemary (Santonicola) Henry

In 1970 we moved from Boston, MA to Saratoga, CA Two years later I decided to resume my career as a school guidance counselor and was hired by Hermann JHS in the Oak Grove School District in San Jose, CA. One of the first persons I met at my new school was a striking brunette, Rosemary Santonicola, who was head of the history department. We became good friends, immediately, because of our mutual interest in the East since she came from New York and I came from Massachusetts. We also shared an interest in the importance of education, high expectations for our students, and also managing to have some good laughs in between chores.

I always admired Rosemary's ability as a first rate teacher. She ran her classroom and her department strictly but fairly. She wasno nonsense" and dedicated teacher and everyone respected her for it. I also thought highly of her devotion to tennis, love of gourmet cooking, High style classic sense of fashion, and devotion to her family back in New York.

We also shared a silly pastime - sometimes going to a famous local fortuneteller call Sylvia Browne. I don't remember most of my questions, but Rosemary's persistent questioning of Sylvia as to Will I marry always fascinated me? and "What kind of guy will he be?" One day Sylvia replied cryptically to Rosemary, "you will marry a man whose last name will also be a first name." Rosemary fulfilled Sylvia's prophecy by marrying a man named "James Henry".

That marriage brought about a lovely change in Rosemary's life. Jim's love produced a new sense of satisfaction and completion to Rosemary's life. She enjoyed her life as Jim's partner and welcomed his lovely daughters, Pamela and Beth, into her life. A few years later, when Pamela gave birth to Zackary, she embraced the role of grandmother eagerly, and she doted on him.

In the last few years, our friendship centered on frequent phone calls and monthly trips to go gourmet restaurants. Rosemary was in charge of selection because of her unfailing ability to spot the best restaurants. At these dinners we shared lively conversations about movies, our travels, politics, and family life. Our tastes were strikingly similar.

We will miss this stimulating friendship in the future. For the past few years, the cloud of Rosemary's cancer hung over our good times. When she died, we felt grief and loss, but there was also an element of relief. The terrible roller coaster highs and lows of her "chemo" treatment were over. Our dear Rosemary was at peace at last

AUDRY LYNCH Oct. 27, 2015

I first met Rosemary when Audry started working with her in the 1970s at Herman school. Rosemary was a beautiful person, inside and out. She was a pleasure to be with on the many times we met as couples. She was a great cook and knew all the great restaurants in the Bay Area. I will miss her and the many enjoyable encounters. Besides all of this, she was a devoted SF Giants fan.

GREG LYNCH

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Patricia Valente

October 31, 2015

Rosemary and I have been neighbors at Crown Colony in Daly City since 1991. I feel great shock over her loss. I hope her family finds comfort soon.

Pat Valente

Lynn Schmidt

October 27, 2015

Rosemary and I were dear friends for more than fifty years and every time we talked on the phone or got together it seemed as though years apart melted away. Many Christmas times she and Jim would visit us on Long Island . I love her whole family and will always miss her. She was so brave at the end of her life. A wonderful friend.

The gourmet cook & her husband

Audrey Punnett

October 23, 2015

Although our friendship only spanned about 10 years, she was the best friend a person could have: good listener, sound judgment, reliable, available with thoughtful advice and always caring and compassionate. Her attitude about her cancer was inspirational and she reminded me what it means to accept what life has given you and to make the most of it. I will always remember Rosemary and carry her memory in my heart.

October 23, 2015

It was my luck and privilege to be Rosemary Santonicola's husband for 35 Years. There was never a dull moment, she was an absolute joy to be with. She was always planning for our near future activities, be it our next meal, our many trips, an event with our daughters and their families, visiting her family on the East Coast, visiting or entertaining our local friends, etc. Her ability to speak excellent French, good Italian, and get along in Spanish enhanced our travels. She was a master at executing her plans. She maintained a large coterie of friends; some from as far back as high school, either by telephone or, later, email. She spent time on her friends and East Coast family, almost every day. She could not function without a telephone. She had ironclad integrity. As the younger sister of five older brothers, she could be sly for getting her way; however, she never crossed her self-imposed line. She had grace, poise, and style. She was always put together, even when sleeping in tents while on safari in the outback in Kenya. Her greatest joy was Grandson Zack! She was in the delivery room when he was born. She came out and told me, Every kid needs a Grandma and I intend to be the best ever. She succeeded. Zack told her recently, Grandma, I know I am not Italian, but I sure feel Italian. By any measure, Rosemary Santonicola was the most beautiful person I ever encountered. James M Henry

Karen & Frank Schwarz

September 29, 2015

We are so grateful to have known Rosemary even for such a short time. We only met last May, but will remember her beautiful style for a lifetime.
We will always think of her at Golden State Warrier time. To have a gourmet dinner, and watch the finals can never be repeated.

She was a true Warrier.

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