Remembering Rosalie Severinsen

Rosalie Marguerite Severinsen ď‚œď€ 1930-2014

Remembrances from members of the Altrusa Club of Macomb

Profile of Rosalie From the May 2014 issue of The Cheerful Earful, the monthly newsletter of the Altrusa Club of Macomb, Ill.

Rosalie with fellow Altrusa members making a donation to the Macomb Public Library to buy books for children with special needs

Lynne Brinker Rosalie was my sponsor. I was acquainted with her through University Women. She invited me to go with her to an Altrusa meeting. She explained that literacy was one of the most important aspects of Altrusa's aims. Since I believe strongly in literacy I was glad to go to the meeting.

Rosalie kept asking me to attend the meetings with her and so I decided to join the club. I treasure the many years of her friendship and the bond that we developed through those years.

I believe she sponsored me in 1996. Rosalie and I became friends 25 years ago. Our relationship became very close because of our common interests of faith, family, church and Altrusa. We co-hosted many Gourmet dinners for University Women over the years.

Rosalie with fellow Altrusans Sandy Collier, Nancy Dobey and Lynne Brinker

Sandy Collier Rosalie was my sponsor!!

Rosalie and I were friends for many years before I joined Altrusa. Since we both were teachers, she often talked with me about the Tutoring Program and encouraged me to refer students to the program, which I did many times.

She asked me several times about joining the club and when I retired, I attended several meetings as Rosalie’s guest and then joined. It soon became obvious to me that Rosalie was as devoted to Altrusa as she was to all of the other commitments in her life. Although caring for her husband Norm sometimes made it difficult for her to do all she wanted to do, she was still very active. She deeply cared about promoting children’s literacy and worked with the Tutoring Program and our Classroom Reading Program for many years. She didn’t shy away from challenges and with limited computer skills she even managed to put together our yearbook.

She also greatly enjoyed the social aspect of the club and I always knew that no matter what she brought to our potlucks, it would be delicious!!

Rosalie was a vital and devoted member of Altrusa, as well as a dear sweet friend, and I will miss her very much.

Rosalie at an Altrusa Kitchen Committee meeting –sitting next to Judi Dallinger

Judi Dallinger Rosalie was my sponsor!

I miss her.

Rosalie with fellow Altrusa Board members

Karen Iversen Rosalie was a very avid seamstress. She made most of her own clothes over the years. In addition, she made MOST if not all of the banners and newer paraments currently used at Trinity Lutheran Church. All are either quilted or have many pieces applied to the main background piece.

Giving time and talents to her family, church and community were very important to her!

Rosalie filling Christmas gift bags for Mosaic residents with fellow Altrusans Marsha McCormick and Jeanie Sowers

Nancy Jameson She was my sponsor into Altrusa. She was also a very dedicated WIU supporter. She spent many years as caregiver for her husband who had Parkinson’s disease.

She was never content to sit and watch the world go by – she had to be doing something for someone all the time.

Rosalie with Kathy Wyatt and Peggy Ma

Peggy Ma Rosalie was my sponsor and a wonderful example to follow in Altrusa and so many other aspects of my life! I really miss her.....

Rosalie helping to collect magazines for Make-a-Difference-Day project with fellow Altrusans

Heather Munro Rosalie was a role model to me in our Altrusa Club. Always hardworking, always cheerful – she was a valued member! She inspired me with her quiet determination to get the job done and make things happen. She was always smiling! She showed me about being a good member of our club. I hope I can become as valued as she was!

Rosalie with fellow Altrusans Valerie Dugan, Paula Rhodes, Peggy Ma and Penny Pollock

Paula Rhodes Through Altrusa I was amazed at Rosalie's involvement with Altrusa while dedicating herself to caring for her husband. Once he was in Grand Prairie, she moved to a Grand Prairie house close to him and was with him constantly, sharing every meal with him and monitoring his health. At the same time, she remained ever active in Altrusa i.e. making certain each of us assigned to read to 1st graders at Lincoln School followed through with our assignment. She also collected remnants for making diapers. I believe this was a project sponsored by her church.

Rosalie was a model and mentor to Macomb Altrusans. May we all remember and follow her spirit of dedication, perseverance, and love of mankind.

Rosalie with Alta Sargent at the Altrusa Bazaar

Alta Sargent It was difficult to refuse a request from Rosalie as she was soft spoken and sweet, but determined. She was remarkable in her quiet way. I'll miss her.

Rosalie with Miriam Satern 窶電onating books to Lincoln Elementary School, Macomb, Il

Miriam N Satern Rosalie was my sponsor. She is the person that first invited me to attend a meeting and she also introduced me to Altrusa.

Rosalie was the person that introduced Altrusa to the Baby Talk program offered through the hospital to all new mothers. She also spearheaded the Adopt-a-Classroom reading program at Lincoln School for many years. Those are two of the projects that I recall Rosalie introduced to our Club and coordinated until just the last couple of years.

Rosalie working in the kitchen at the annual Altrusa Bazaar

Lin Stults I always admired the dedication Rosalie had for the School/Book reading projects and her Baby Fold Blankets (she made so many herself). She was truly one of the most gentle people I have ever encountered in my life.

Rosalie with fellow Altrusans Peggy Ma and Karen Trusley

Karen Trusley Rosalie was an amazing friend. I truly enjoyed our times together in Altrusa. She gave so much to this community and to our Altrusa chapter. She will truly be missed.

Rosalie with Jeanie Sowers and Alta Sargent

Sara Wood Rosalie sponsored me. She was enthusiastic about Altrusa, as she strongly believed in education and helping people. This included Baby Talk to funding college scholarships, sponsoring foreign children and her church. She served Altrusa in many ways and offices. She was a very giving person and a good friend.

Rosalie at Altrusa events

The Altrusa Club of Macomb will miss Rosalie and we will remember her with fondness

Obituary Rosalie Marguerite Severinsen of Macomb, Ill., died Oct. 2, 2014 of complications due to brain surgery. Mrs. Severinsen lived in Macomb since 1961. She was a retired speech teacher and very active participant in dozens of area organizations.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, K. Norman Severinsen, who also grew up in Marion.

Mrs. Severinsen grew up during the Depression, and although her family was far from wealthy, they nearly always had at least one homeless person living with them. This lesson of providing for the less fortunate stuck with her all her life.

Mrs. Severinsen and Norman met at Marion High School. They became good friends, and eventually decided perhaps they would date. They married in 1951 during Norman’s senior year at the University of Iowa.

Mrs. Severinsen followed a conventional path of becoming a housewife and mother, but in the 1960s, she started taking classes at Western Illinois University, where Norman was a professor. She was a fanatical student, typing all her class notes from her shorthand, studying for hours every day and throwing herself into every class, from art to bookkeeping.

Eventually she experienced her first personal renaissance. During a time when many American women were discovering their own identities, she discovered a new one for herself. In 1976 she earned a master’s degree in speech pathology, then taught elementary school speech in Monmouth, Ill. schools. She loved working with children, creating unique bulletin boards and developing her own technique for teaching children to say their Rs. Within a few years of launching her career, however, they learned that Norman had Parkinson’s disease. She worked for about 15 years, but eventually retired to become Norman’s caretaker, a role that became increasingly demanding as his health declined. In this latest renaissance, she worked hard to keep physically strong so she could lift and move him. She learned everything she could about the disease, joined groups, took him to specialists, and counted endless boxes of pills. Norman lived

38 years with his illness, far longer than most patients, and the family thinks this was due in no small part to her painstaking caregiving.

Despite his illness, the couple continued to travel, both in the U.S. and abroad to such destinations as Asia, Africa, Europe and around the horn of South America. Rosalie also found creative expression while staying home with Norm by creating stained glass windows for herself, friends and family.

Following Norman’s death in 2010, Rosalie could not imagine life without him. And yet she re-imagined it and lived it to the fullest for four more years. She threw herself into community events and volunteerism, as if to make up for the years she missed during caregiving. She became more active in Altrusa, Baby TALK and Soup & More, and continued her interests in gourmet club and church volunteerism. She enjoyed her widow’s group, a Parkinson’s support group, and playing bridge. She never missed an ice cream social at the Old Dairy or an episode of Dr. Oz. Mrs. Severinsen was tight with a buck and generous with her donations, time and advice, since there was always a student in need of a scholarship or a grandchild in need of her dietary or fashion guidance.

Over the years she sewed many hundreds of school bags for children in need, and designed and created most of the paraments in use today at Trinity Lutheran Church. She also took great joy in giving, funding scholarships at Western Illinois University and Spoon River College, providing gifts to McDonough District Hospital, and many other worthy causes.

In late spring this year, when she and her sister Diane Allen of Marion were planning a cruise to St. Petersburg in Russia, Mrs. Severinsen was diagnosed with a meningioma. She opted to try surgery and radiation, but the complications were more than she could withstand.

Mrs. Severinsen was born July 14, 1930 in Marion, Iowa to Robert and Iva (Comport) Hess. She is survived by her two children, Kay (Joseph) McElroy of Naperville, Ill., and Kris (Maureen) Severinsen of Germantown Hills, Ill., seven grandchildren, Mike, Laura and Brendan McElroy, and Sherri (David) Suszek, Shana (Jarred) Maher, Dane and Serena Severinsen, and two greatgrandchildren, Anna and Allison Suszek. She is also survived by her sisters, Diane Allen and Nancy (Jim) Lang of Iowa and Pat (Harry) Wullschlager of Kansas, and her brother, Tom (Nancy) Hess of Iowa.

Along with Norman, her parents and other loved ones, Mrs. Severinsen has joined Our Lord’s everlasting feast where all the food is delicious and low-fat. But there is also chocolate ice cream.

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Rosalie Marguerite Severinsen  1930-2014