Rosa Ulibarri Williams

There will be a celebration of life for our mother, Rosa Ulibarri Williams. It will be held Friday, October 8, 2021 at 6:30 P.M. Please join us at Valley View Memorial Park to honor her memory and impact on our lives.

As Covid19 is still very much a factor in our lives, we respectfully require all who attend to mask up in order to protect our fellow mourners, as well as ourselves.

Although this type of remembrance is often viewed as a sorrowful activity, our mother attended these events to of course, pay respect and honor our passed loved ones, but also as an opportunity to visit with those we love and miss and do not often see.

When saddened by the death of a loved one, Rose would always remind us that death is a part of life. Simple but wise words to get us through until our time comes to meet again.

Rose (Rosa Mae Gallegos) Ulibarri Williams passed away on December 26th, 2020 in West Jordan, Utah. The deadly, dangerous, very real, not a hoax, Covid-19 virus took her life.

Rose was born on May 1, 1943 in Salt Lake City (77 years old). Her parents, John and Mary (Gonzales) Gallegos, both from New Mexico, preceded her in death. Rose married Jose Trinidad (Joe) Ulibarri in 1960 and later married Anthony Williams in 1990, both deceased. Children Kelly Joe Michael, Sabrina Carmel, and Joshua Estevan (Stormie Sanchez-Ulibarri) live on. Rose had 9 grandchildren: Kevin, Haley, Joe, Talia, Tawny, Tessa, Anikin, and Isobel (Jerry passed away). She is also survived by 5 great-grandchildren. Her oldest daughter Cynthia Camille Johannsen and her son Rodney Cameron Ulibarri (Beverly Malone) preceded her in death.

Rose was the youngest of 9 children, with decades in age spanning the distance between her older sister and herself. That helped make her the fashionista among her siblings and because she was younger, many of her nephews and nieces were her age, making her the cool aunt. Those relationships carried on later in her life. Rose looked forward to late-evening calls with her sister Gloria.

Rose was beloved and beautiful, paying lots of attention to the latest fashions and doing her best to make sure her children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces, and friends, were clothed in the coolest things. Her trips to Ross were legendary and she was a great bargain shopper. She was kind and generous, sharing the goods from those trips to Ross. She would give little “treasures” to the children she saw and mail crisp $2 bills to them, calling it lucky money. She was also down to earth and real. You knew where you stood with Rose because she would tell you. And she was honest with her feelings. She was brave and strong, like everyone she felt pain and joy, endured abuse, and pushed through, thankful for each day. She loved her Catholic Popes. She loved to travel, especially to New York.

Rose’s daily reading of the obituaries was a ritual for her. Her family would get phone calls on the latest news and it was her way to stay connected and to make sure her immediate family remembered the people she loved and lost. Covid is stealing from us our ability to mourn properly. There is no manual for letting people go, all alone in the hospital, for being unable to gather safely, for being reluctant to hug. And it is a real burden for half this country to take this virus seriously while the other half pretends it is a flu or are willing to sacrifice the elderly and the sick. Her death is like watching a movie you previewed, chose not to watch, but are still being forced to see. Funerals were precious to Rose and because of the pandemic there are no immediate plans for services. She will not get the proper send-off she deserves, that we all deserve, at least not immediately, though the family is planning something for May. Kelly and Joshua want to give special thanks to their sister Sabrina (Brink) for taking care of Rose, they were good friends to each other.