Rosemary Priester

A devoted wife and mother, a fierce friend, a devout Catholic, a singer with the voice of a songbird, and a personality like a force of nature, has passed out of this life and onto the next.

Rosemary (Dougherty) Priester was born in Sioux Falls, S.D., one of five siblings. She attended St. Joseph Cathedral grade and high school in Sioux Falls. Rosemary then studied music at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD., and received a Bachelor of Music degree from Colorado University, Boulder, CO.

In 1960 Rosemary married John D. Priester and they began their life of adventure in Grand Junction, CO. They then moved on to Boise, ID; New York City; Leawood, KS and in 1976 the Denver area.

In addition to being a tremendous tennis player and strong supporter of the arts (past President of the Denver Lyric Opera Guild), Rosemary was an avid traveler who, together with John, visited many far flung corners of the earth, including Tibet, Turkey, South Africa, India, Russia, Jordan, Peru and most of Europe.

Rosemary and John have two children: MaryAnn Herbert (husband John) in Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia and Mark Priester (wife Karla) in Kimball, MN. They have two grandchildren, Xavier and Aisling Herbert in Tasmania.

A funeral mass and well-deserved celebration of life will be held in the Spring of 2021 at All Souls Church once Covid-19 precautions have lifted. Rosemary’s family would like to thank neighbors Jeannine, Debbie and Kathy for their loving care during Rosemary these last weeks. Your actions exemplified true friendship and we are forever grateful.