Laurie Margaret Rossberg

Laurie Margaret Rossberg

"Butte America" has lost one of its finest educators this past week. Laurie Rossberg lost her long and courageous battle with cancer. She was beloved by her students and respected and enjoyed by her colleagues. She will be greatly missed by those who knew her.

Laurie Margaret Sullivan was born on October 20, 1959, to Patricia M. and David T. Sullivan.

Laurie quickly displayed a very friendly and outgoing personality. She had more friends than anyone in the neighborhood. Growing up, she fancied herself as the family's hairdresser. She had long blonde straight hair and one day decided to cut it. She simply chopped off her bangs. Her mother was horrified. Thus the end of her "hair-cutting" career!

Think of the word teacher and Laurie comes to mind. She dreamed of teaching from an early age. When the new St. John's School was built, her dad was able to acquire chalkboards, real school desks, bookcases and set up half of the basement as a "real" classroom. Laurie immediately took to playing teacher. Every chance she got, she "rounded up" neighborhood kids to be her students. She spent hours preparing and presenting school work. All the neighborhood kids developed a wealth of knowledge which put them way ahead of other students their age. Thus, Laurie began her "amateur" teaching career and later received her bachelor and master's degrees from Western Montana College.

Soon afterward, Laurie met and married Gerry Rossberg on August 8, 1991, and together they happily enjoyed 34 years together living in Butte and spending summers at Flathead Lake.

For forty years, Laurie taught and coached both students in Montana as well as in California. She taught at West Junior High in Butte and at Pinecrest-Northridge in California before spending the next thirty-two years teaching at East Middle School.

In addition to teaching, Laurie was a volleyball and cross country coach both at East and at Butte High School. She was the girls' intramural activities director, Student Council advisor and Team E's Team Leader for many years.

Laurie was continually recognized for her excellence in teaching and two of the awards that meant a great deal to her were the Gold Star Award and the University of Montana's Mary Francis Shreeve Award for Excellence in Education.

It seems like anywhere a person might go in Butte, or in other cities, former students would call out, "Hey, Mrs. Rossberg, I still remember all my prepositions!"

Laurie is survived by her husband, Gerry Rossberg; daughter, Lizzie (Carolyn) Munday; her grandchildren, Banyan and Rustyn; stepchildren, Jeremy (Dawne) Rossberg, Shay (Emily) Rossberg, Cejay (Eric) Paulsen; and sister-in-law, Kathy Rossberg. Her siblings include Mary Pat LaForest, Dave (Chris) Sullivan, Julie (Dan) Kirkpatrick and Colleen (Paul) Horsley. Also, numerous nieces and nephews SHE brainwashed into calling her "Pretty Aunt Laurie". The world won't be the same without "Laurie" in it. We will all miss her Irish humor and her quick wit.

Funeral Mass will be held Friday, September 12, 2025, at St. Patrick's Church, Butte, Mont. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. followed by Catholic Mass at 11 a.m. Interment will be held at 12 p.m., Mountain View Cemetery with a reception lunch at 1 p.m. at The Depot

Donations may be made in Laurie's name to the Butte Education Foundation, P.O. Box 3821, Butte, MT 59702, or a charity of your choice.