Roseann Lloyd

Roseann Lloyd was born on New Year's Day 1944 in Springfield, MO to Betty Skelton (nee Lloyd) and J. Harold Skelton. She is survived by husband James Smith and daughter Anna Rachel Tuerck (Oscar), sister Alice Lloyd (nee Skelton), niece Emily Lloyd and grandnieces Aisha and Soleil Callahan, niece Lisa Skelton, and beloved aunt Mary Anna Jackson Davis (nee Lloyd) and cousins. Preceded in death by both parents and brothers, Lloyd Skelton and Philip Skelton, Roseann died peacefully from complications of dementia on June 7, 2025.

Rosie graduated from Washburn High School in Minneapolis in 1962, with a senior year abroad in Norway. She attended St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota, earning B.S. and M.A. degrees in English and Norwegian languages, literature and education, and studied creative writing at the Poetry Workshop in Montana. A published writer, Roseann created five collected works of poetry, with attention to memoir and culture, and domestic and political violence. She wrote books on recovery support, edited migration voices, and translated Norwegian works. An educator too, she taught at all class levels, led writing workshops, an annual series in Guatemala, and programs at The Loft Literary Center. Her activism included co-founding the Arts Against Domestic Violence, whose Silent Witness Project led to passage of the Violence Against Women Act. Roseann's evocative writing was recognized with The Minnesota Book Award in Poetry, Loft-McKnight Fellowships (and Poet of Distinction), Minnesota State Arts Board grants, Jerome Travel Fellowship, and others.

Rosie cherished family and lifelong friendships and travel. Always ready for a sing-along at the piano, she also loved to elevate occasions by dressing up in lively costumes. She gifted us with her many fun-loving collages and quilts, and genealogy research. We will all miss her big-heartedness, creative insights, and an infectious laugh that even illness couldn't diminish.

Memorials are welcome at tubman.org and rescue.org.

A Celebration of Life will be held on September 7, 2025, at 01:00 PM at Lyndale United Church 610 W. 28th St.