Rosemary N Carlson

May 15, 1932 – April 2, 2026

Our mom was always the brightest spark in every room she entered. On April 2, 2026 Rosemary Carlson’s earthly spark left us, after a long battle with dementia.

Rosemary Gene Needham was born on May 15, 1932 in Tacoma, Washington. Her parents were Oliver and Faye Needham. She received the middle name of Gene from her father’s mother whose name was Emogene and her parents shortened it to Gene to honor her.

Rosemary attended Lincoln High School, graduating in 1950; Pacific Lutheran College, 1951-52; and the College of Puget Sound now known as the University of Puget Sound, graduating in 1955. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Education. As a young woman she was always busy: serving as president of the International Relations Club, secretary of the Future Teachers of America, program chairman of the Kappa Phi Methodist Girls’ Club, Sunday school teacher, choir member, and member of the Epworth Methodist Church. Plus she found time to go to the church dances and college groups organized to include servicemen stationed at the nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Mom loved to dance her entire life! There were many suitors at those dances who also noticed Rosemary’s sparkly personality. It was at one of these events at another Tacoma church, the First Baptist Church, she met the man who would become her husband and our father, Norman Carlson, of Selma, CA. They married on June 21, 1955, just a week after they both graduated from college.

After a brief honeymoon, that mostly consisted of a road trip to move Rosemary from Washington to California, both she and Norman began their careers as teachers in Reedley, CA. Norman taught music to elementary school students and Rosemary taught English in the high school. The following year, 1956, Rosemary gave birth to their first child, Donalyn, and a year after that their second child, David, came along.

In 1958 Rosemary and Norman moved their little family to the big city of Fresno and into the only house they would share for 40 years. It was well known on Dakota Avenue, marked by its vibrant aqua paint, which mom chose, and a Christmas tree in the front yard that eventually became about 3 stories tall.

Faith was always important to both Rosemary and Norman. And in the early 60’s our parents, and a half a dozen other families, started a church in a member’s home on West Avenue. This little home church became the Northwest Baptist Church, now known as Northwest Church, on West and Barstow. Norman served as the church’s first choir director. Mom later attended the Evangelical Free Church (now the Bridge Church) and Northside Christian Church (now CrossCity Christian Church). She was active, into her 80s, with the WOW Group (Women of the Word) at Northside.

Feeling the pressure of motherhood but still wanting a career, Rosemary discussed other career options with her father-in-law, Sam Carlson. He encouraged her to get into the insurance and investment business during the days when no company would hire a young woman in her 20’s with 2 small children. She once recalled an interview with the New York Life manager in their Fresno office telling her to “go home and take care of your children, where you belong!” He said she “would never be able to manage a family AND a career as an investment broker.”

Rosemary proved him wrong by parlaying her never-met-a-stranger personality into just that. It was a career path she would follow for more than 50 years. She represented a number of different companies over the years, all in the Fresno area, among them: Hall and Hall Investments, State Bond and Mortgage, ARM Securities, and lastly Capital Financial Services.

Rosemary was often among the top sales representatives in her firms and as such won several coveted trips to Hawaii. Both our parents enjoyed their Hawaii trips so very much and really looked forward them. From the time she was a girl, mom loved to swim and did so at every opportunity and dad was an amateur photographer. So while she swam in the ocean or hotel pool he would take pictures of her and the beautiful flora and fauna that surrounded them in Hawaii.

In 1966, mom surprised her two children, Donalyn and David, with the news they were to have a sibling. We suspect mom and dad were equally surprised since it had been nearly a decade since her last birthing experience! Darin was born that year and two years later Daniel arrived. Ever the modern, independent woman, Rosemary continued her work through both pregnancies and thereafter.

If Rosemary ever felt a conversation lagging, she only had to look as far as her purse to get it going again. She was famous for carrying an inch-thick paper collection of jokes, puns, cartoons and funny stories wherever she went. She took delight in reading them out loud to whoever would listen and hearing her audience laugh, or groan, as the case may be. It never mattered if she had told the stories before, she would emit her own infectious laugh at the end of each one. If you ever had the pleasure of hearing her laugh you can probably still hear it in your head today.

Rosemary loved gardening—planting flowers and raising champion tomatoes in the spring and summer. She passed that love of growing beautiful and nourishing things on to each one of her children who carry it forward each in their own ways.

She also loved going to her yoga class. Even though she was in her late 70s, with very little prompting she would get down on the floor to show you just how flexible she still was.

But the thing she probably loved best was sitting in coffee shops and restaurants. There she made new friends and talked about life and mutual funds with the regulars, of which she was one in different places around Fresno. For several decades, and prior to cell phones, if we could not find Rosemary we knew to look at TGI Friday’s. She could be found there putting the strong-arm investment sales pitch on Sam, the bartender, from the comfort of her regular perch. Her last favorite hangout she frequented nearly everyday was Toledo’s in Clovis. They even named a drink there after her called “Rosemary’s Coffee” and had a designated seat emblazoned with her name. She LOVED that!

Mom showed her love for us in the things she did. For example, in 1969, she took 2 months off work while David and Donalyn were out of school, Darin was a toddler and Daniel a baby, with the express purpose of converting one of the bedrooms into “the boys’ room”. She let David pick out the paint color for the walls, a shocking shamrock green…!..., and then purchased 100 rug samples at 10-20 cents apiece in all sorts of colors. She then cut those samples, by hand, into 4 inch strips of varied lengths and glued them all to the hardwood floor. When it was finished she proudly called it her “floor rainbow.”

On another occasion, in 1975, she undertook a project in the backyard to build a 1,300 gallon fish pond for Darin who often brought home frogs, pollywogs, fish and toads. Little did she know at the time that pond would become one of her favorite things too. She loved the time she spent with Darin working in it and just gazing upon it and the subsequent one she had at her 2nd house in Stonebrook Estates.

Rosemary was one of the most unique people you would ever meet: a rebel, prone to hilarity, a trendsetter, pioneer career woman yet still traditional, and deeply religious. We were so lucky to have her for as long as we did.

Rosemary was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and her grandson, Samuel. She is survived by her sister, Lois Knowlton, of La Mesa, CA; four children: Donalyn Carlson of Poulsbo, WA; David (& Susan) Carlson, and Daniel Carlson all of Fresno, CA; and Darin Carlson. She also has six grandchildren: Robert Carlson, twins Ben and Gary Carlson, Anneli (& Rick) Rios and Jordan Carlson, all of Fresno, and Ellie Carlson of Washington DC. Also, two nephews and a niece, Bruce (& Cyndi) and Chris (& Tiffany) Knowlton and Kathryn (& Bill) Holt, all of Southern California; and four great-grandchildren: Mykal, Levi, and Jaden Carlson and Raphael Rios, all of Fresno.

The family would like to thank Hinds LifeCare Hospice as well as Kathryn Holt and Susan Carlson for helping Rosemary peacefully transition the last mile of her journey.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Cat House on the Kings, 7120 S. Kings River Rd., Parlier, CA 93648-9720, the CrossCity Christian Church, 2777 E. Nees Ave., Fresno, CA 93720 or the Bridge Church, 3438 E. Ashlan Ave., Fresno CA 93726.

A graveside service will be held on May 9, 2026 at 10 am at the Floral Memorial Park, 2430 Floral Ave., Selma, CA 93662. A luncheon will follow immediately afterwards at one of Rosemary’s favorite restaurants in Fresno, to be announced at the service.

Service attendees are encouraged to wear a hat or bring an umbrella to protect them from the sun.