McDermott (nee Whitney), Rosemary “Rose”

Became an angel in heaven on March 19, 2015, at the age of 73 with her children and granddaughter Autumn at her side, after a strong and inspiring 3 ½ year fight with metastasis liver cancer.

Rosemary was born July 23, 1941, to the union of Charles O. Whitney and Catherine (Parker) Whitney.

This union brought 12 children; 8 boys and 4 girls who included the late Charles G. Whitney, Kate J.(Ralston), Lillian E. (Michael), David J. Whitney, Richard J. Whitney, the late Phillip A. Whitney, Phyllis A. (Hammack), the late Timothy J. Whitney, the late Daniel R. Whitney, Michael S. Whitney and Patrick W. Whitney.

Rosemary was the widow of the late Joseph C. McDermott who preceded her in death on March 29, 2007. Rosemary is survived by her daughter Diane R. McNail, her son Patrick J. McDermott,and his wife Sarah; 4 granddaughters, Casey, Autumn, Kelsey, and Alyssa; 2 great grandchildren Evelyn and Keegan; dear sister, sister-in-law, aunt, great aunt, great-greataunt, cousin, and a friend to many.

In 1943, at the age of 2, Rosemary entered into German St. Vincent Orphan home. Upon graduating out at the age of 14, she then lived in 2 foster homes until the age of 16. At the age of 16, she lived with family, and soon took a union job with a drug manufacturing company. On September 26th 1964, “Joe and Rose” were married and had their first child Diane in 1968. Rosemary was a loving mother to both Diane and her son Patrick who was born in 1969. After moving to Ballwin in 1970, Rosemary took a part-time position with Rockwood School District from 1973 -1982. She worked in the cafeteria at Westridge Elementary where her children attended grade school. From 1987-1997 Rosemary took a part-time position with Parkway School District working at West Jr. High School, and ending her last year of service at Parkway South High School. On July 17th 1997 she took a full time position with Dierberg’s deli department. Despite Rosemary’s terminal cancer diagnosis in October of 2011 she continued to work part-time and retired after 17 years of service in September 2014.

Over the past 4 decades she almost never missed a BINGO game with her family and or friends. Playing BINGO was her hobby and provided an opportunity to meet so many great friends. Each and every one of you held a special place in her heart; THANK YOU.

Rosemary’s final wishes were for all her family and friends to celebrate her life as a happy time and not one filled with tears. She further wanted to donate her body to allow others to research and learn from her cancer, so others one day would not have to live with this horrible disease.

A celebration of Rosemary’s life will be held on Sunday March 29, 2015 at the Schrader Family center, 14960 Manchester Rd., Ballwin, MO 63011, (636)-227–5511. Please join us after 1:00pm to reminisce followed by a prayer service at 3:30pm.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please make a tax deductible donation to: The BackStoppers. PO Box 795168. Saint Louis, MO 63179-0700, or a charity of your choice.

With the many recent visits from family and friends Rosemary’s children have heard untold stories about their mother’s life. We hope to capture some of these during this celebration. Please join us in a good ol’ fashioned roast for Rosie. Gather your stories, thoughts, & memories and bring them with you to share on the 29th. ALL stories welcome! Don’t be shy, Rosie sure wasn’t! What better way to celebrate her life than by sharing how she touched ours. We look forward to Roasting our Rosie!