Rosemarie Riemer

1928 - 2022

June 21, 1928 -

November 30, 2022 Rosemarie Renate Riemer (née Sellke) was born on June 21, 1928 in Neuwied, Germany and passed away peacefully on November 30, 2022 in Monroe, WA at the age of 94.

Her parents were Erich Sellke and Gertrud Sellke (née Hild). She had a difficult childhood and was often sent to live with relatives while her mother recuperated from illnesses. She experienced WWII in Germany during her teenage years and in many ways it shaped her future. In 1947, she met her husband-to-be, Dietrich Riemer, in Cottbus, Germany, and they married in 1956. Rosemarie attended the College of Fine Arts in Berlin and graduated with a BA in 1954. Her talent was in wood carving and she produced many pieces in her lifetime, mostly as gifts.

In 1959, she and Dietrich emigrated to the USA and started a family. They first lived in Delaware, then Florida and finally settled in Auburn, Washington in 1971.

Rosemarie documented every day of her life from 1967 to 2018 in journals. In 2006 she used these as well as old family letters to write her memoirs in German. During the final year of her life she worked with family members to translate this work into English for future generations. Entitled "The Last Sellke", it chronicles her difficult early childhood, her mother's suicide, hardships through WWII, her emigration to the USA and raising a family in a foreign country.

She loved animals with a passion, as well as gardening, politics, and various art projects. During the 1980s she also became a ham radio operator. Rosemarie was an avid Mariners baseball fan and would often take her grandchildren to games. She was a devoted mother who never missed the most minute event in her children's or grandchildren's lives and was always there when needed. She had the unique ability to step outside of herself and share in other people's emotions.

Rosemarie was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Dietrich, in 2021. She is survived by her two children, Elizabeth (Edward Hare) and Martin (Karrie), and four grandchildren, Eric and Stephanie Hare, and Josephine and Benjamin Riemer.