Rosemary Gleason

1927 - 2015

Rosemary Ferguson Gleason

Born on October 26, 1927, in Omaha, Nebraska to Louis Dale and Helen Eva (Ciesielski) Ferguson; Rosemary passed away peacefully on December 22, 2015, in Sacramento, California.
Rosemary attended Holy Name School in Omaha and upon graduation from high school, she moved to Denver, Colorado, where she met Harold William Gleason, whom she married on March 26, 1948. Hal and Rosemary lived briefly in Cleveland, Ohio before moving to Kansas City, Kansas, where their three daughters were born. While living in Liberal, Kansas, the family vacationed in California and Hal and Rosemary vowed that they would live there, moving to the Sunset District in San Francisco in 1963.
Rosemary loved everything about the city, and being not just a Californian, but a San Franciscan, was a great source of joy to her. She participated in Holy Name of Jesus parish and school activities and committees, and was an enthusiastic member of the Sewing Club, a group of twelve women who met monthly at a member's home, ostensibly to work on darning and other sewing projects, but really to just have a grand old time being together. When her daughters reached their teens, Rosemary's love of art led her to start volunteering at the de Young Museum, where she eventually became a paid employee in the administrative office.
Rosemary was a voracious reader, an accomplished seamstress, a captivating storyteller, and an avid solver of New York Times crossword puzzles. She loved seeing movies (especially musicals), going to plays and musicals, and attending symphony and opera performances. Her zest for life was infectious and she will be loved and missed by those she leaves behind.
Preceded in death by her sisters, Lucy Wahl and Elizabeth (Betty Ann) Derry, and her beloved husband Hal, Rosemary is survived by her three daughters, Carolyn (Ron - deceased) Cox, Diane Whitlatch, and Barbara (Scott) Browne, eight grandchildren, and six great grandchildren. Special thanks go to all of the staff at Sunrise of Sacramento, and to VITAS hospice services.
A service will take place at 11:00 on Wednesday, January 6, at Holy Name of Jesus Church on the corner of 39th Avenue and Lawton Street in San Francisco.