Rosemary Carter

Rosemary Carter, 86 Overland Park, Kansas, passed away peacefully on August 6, 2020. A funeral mass will be at 10 AM on Thursday, August 20, 2020 at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 5250 Mission Rd, Roeland Park, Kansas. Inurnment in Resurrection Cemetery, Lenexa, Kansas. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Agnes Parish, Catholic Charities, or Evergreen Community of Johnson County.

Rosemary was born in Kansas City, MO to Frank and Rose (Lonergan) Collins. She was a devout and faithful Catholic, a member of St. Agnes Alter Society, Kansans for Life, and the Sunshine Club of Holy Cross. She also volunteered at Catholic Charities.

Rosemary attended Blessed Sacrament Grade School and Bishop Lillis High School. She also attended College of St. Teresa’s, now Avila University.

Rosemary and William “Ray” Carter were married on August 31, 1957 and together they raised 7 children. Rosemary was a stay-at-home mother. Ray traveled often for business, leaving Rosemary to keep the home and kids in order by herself. She was a selfless person, always putting the needs of her children and husband before her own. Through life's adventures and ups and downs, Rosemary always exhibited a positive attitude and saintly patience, that is until one or more of us kids would push the limits of her patience a little too far. When that occurred she would get out the paddle and use it to give us a reminder of what was and was not acceptable behavior.

Rosemary was happiest when at large family gatherings. She enjoyed her grandchildren and great grandchildren immensely. She especially loved babies and was often seen watching them with a loving smile on her face.

Sometimes Rosemary would make a really great lasagna for special occasions. However she really loved going to the Italian Gardens Restaurant downtown for family celebrations. After it closed Johnny Cascone’s in Overland Park became her new favorite.

Like their mother Rose, Rosemary and her sister Jean loved to shop the sales. The Jones Store and Macy’s were often the shopping destinations of choice. Both sisters had similar fashion tastes which became obvious at Christmas time. Unwrapping the infamous shirt boxes led to lots of laughter as the cousins often received matching or very similar shirts or sweaters.

After retirement, Rosemary and Ray loved to travel to new places, sometimes by themselves and other times with family and friends. They spent many winters either in Destin, FL or Galveston, TX. One of their favorite trips was to Europe and Ireland. In Ireland, they enjoyed visiting many of the places where their ancestors were originally from. Surprisingly, (not really) a few of the local pubs bore names like Lonergan and Gallagher, names that are very prevalent in Rosemary’s and Ray’s family history.

Rosemary was preceded in death by infant son Joseph; her husband Ray; her parents; sister Jean Nolan and husband Larry; her brother Colonel Richard J. “Dick” Collins, USMC Ret, and wife Jean; in-laws, Clarence and Mary Carter and many other family members and lifelong friends.

Survivors include sons, Ray (Carol), Tom (Linda), Paul (Tammy), Chris (Julie) and Kevin; daughters, Mary Beth (Art) Strange and Ann Marie Carter; 13 grandchildren and 5 great granddaughters; sisters-in-law, Mary Ann O’Connor and Linda Carter; numerous nieces and nephews.

Rosemary will be greatly missed by all who loved her.

We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to all of the great team members from Evergreen Community of Johnson County for the loving care and compassion given to our mom during her time as a resident there as well as to the team at Garden Villas of Lenexa where she also received loving care.