Rose Marie Saenz

Rose Marie Saenz, affectionately known as “Rosie” or “Chita”, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on July 28, 2023, in Lubbock, Texas where she lived with her husband, Luis. Rose was born July 10, 1942, in San Luis Obispo, CA to her parents Gilberto Arballo and Rosa Arballo. She was the only girl born to the Arballos and not only was she loved by her parents, but by her two older brothers, Richard and Joe, and her younger brother, David, who became her best friend.

Rose was a hard-worker and natural-born leader. She wore many hats in her career life, but her favorite position was her supervisory role with SRL in the early years of computer technology in Orange County, California, where she worked for many years. Through her work, she made countless lifelong friends and impacted the lives of many. She had a youthful personality and loved to share memories with family, friends and co-workers about her youth and the good times growing up in the fifties.

Luis was the love of her life. They had been married over fifty-nine years and were inseparable. Luis was devoted to Rose and supported her faithfully throughout the years. Rose loved her family dearly and loved to spend time with them as often as possible. She was proud of her family and bragged about her grandkids and great grandkids. They were her joy, as well as her daughter, whom she considered to be the light of her life.

Rose loved life in every sense. One of her greatest pleasures was food. She enjoyed a good meal and was an excellent cook. She shared this love with her children and grandchildren, teaching them her recipes for various dishes or bringing fresh home-cooked food over to family and church gatherings. From homemade tamales, fresh tortillas, or Spanish rice, Rose always looked forward to cooking for the ones she loved.

Rose had many admirable attributes, the most impressive was her ability to make others feel loved. She loved to love people, never met a stranger, and never hesitated to help a friend in need. Strangers often became family and everyone who knew her was better for it. Whether through a word of encouragement, a warm smile, or quality time, Rose poured her love into everyone. All who knew her enjoyed her witty sense of humor, infectious laugh, and spunky spirit. She was an absolute joy to be around.

Rose’s life was a beautiful representation of the love of God. Growing up with Christian parents in the home of a pastor, Rose had the privilege of building her faith early on in her life. Throughout her lifetime, she endured many physical battles but her resiliency and her unwavering trust in God carried her through while inspiring all who knew her. Rose will always be remembered for her love, kindness, positivity, encouragement, generosity, humor, lightheartedness, inclusion, dedication, perseverance and all-around good nature.

Rose’s wish for everyone was to be happy — happy as she was to be a child of the King and to be loved fully and unconditionally. She will be sorely and forever missed but our loss of her is Heaven’s gain. Her favorite message to the people she loved was often in a text or note, “God Bless You (GBU), I will wait for you.” She always waited for the people she loved to see again. "Rose, (Chita) wait for us. We will see you again in Heaven someday. God bless you. We love you.:

Rose is survived by her husband Luis Saenz, brothers Joe (Becky) Arballo and David (Enedina) Arballo, her daughter Joreen (Rick) Scanlon, grandchildren Rick Scanlon, Jodee (Marshall) Rankin, Janae (Rodney) Saunders, and great grandchildren, IsaBellea, London, and Scarlett, and many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her parents Gilbert and Rosa Arballo, and brother, Richard Medina.

Please join us in celebrating Rose’s life Saturday, August 5, 2023, at 1:00pm at Rest Haven Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 5740 19th St., Lubbock, TX 79407. Pre-service visitation begins at 12:00pm. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Rose’s home church, Renewal Church, at renewalchurch.breezechms.com/give/online.