Rose A. Baxter

Rose Ann (Madill) Baxter, 85, was reunited with her maker and too many loved ones to count September 18, 2024, after a brief rematch with the cancer whose posterior she kicked more than a decade earlier.
Rose Ann was born in Watertown, New York, to William "Jack" and Genevieve Madill in 1939, the second of seven kids and the first daughter. She was grateful for her parents' Catholicism, as that assured her a new baby to care for every two or so years. She fondly remembered pushing her younger siblings around the neighborhood in their strollers, which not only gave her mother a break, but enabled Rose Ann to puff on cigarettes she pilfered from her parents' store. After high school, she went to beauty school, but admitted styling hair was neither her passion nor her talent. That didn't stop her from giving her children mediocre to subpar coiffures in her kitchen. "You've got wavy hair. You can get away with murder," she assured them. She fared better during many years of retail employment, primarily at Hudson's department store and Laura Ashley, where she formed lifelong friendships.
In 1963, Rose Ann married Joe Baxter, and the couple had two daughters and a son over the next four years. The family lived in upstate New York, Indiana, and Illinois before settling in Kentwood, Michigan, in 1978. At the time of her death, Rose Ann was a resident at Heather Hills in Grand Rapids.
In spite of her humble denials, Rose Ann was a creative person who knitted sweaters, sewed quilts and dolls, and had a gift for restoring and refinishing furniture. At Christmas, she made candy and bread for family and friends. She supported multiple charities, lamenting only that she didn't know what to do with the many thank-you gifts enclosed in the mailings. Anyone who received a package from Rose Ann likely found inside a re-gifted dream catcher or plastic car medallion emblazoned with the image of Jesus. She loved dogs, Saint Anthony (who will now be available to other petitioners, having devoted the last two decades to finding Rose Ann's glasses), Elvis Presley and all things Irish. When she made spaghetti sauce, the smell alone raised property values in the neighborhood. Her Texas sheet cake changed lives.
Rose Ann is preceded in death by her parents, husband of 44 years, and brothers Bill, John and Tom Madill. She is survived by sisters Paula Watson and Jan Arno and brother Jim, and many nieces and nephews. She will be deeply missed by her children: Colleen (Steve) Thompson of Springfield, Oregon, Andrea of Atlanta, Georgia, and Greg of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and beloved granddaughters Sawyer and Celia Thompson, who could make her laugh until she cried.
The Baxter family would like to thank Nancy Pierce for her years of friendship and humor and the beautiful souls at Heather Hills and Gentiva Hospice for their kind, compassionate care during Rose Ann's final days.
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