Rose Marie Landrock

Rose-Marie (McDonald) Landrock, 93, formerly of Lake Mohawk, Sparta, New Jersey passed away peacefully on January 26, 2014 surrounded by her family at Beaumont Nursing Home in Westborough, Massachusetts. Rose-Marie was born in Inwood, New York (Manhattan) on June 28, 1920 to Florence (Van Edsinga) and William McDonald. She moved to Astoria, New York as a toddler and was a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church where she attended school through eighth grade. She attended Saint Jean the Baptist Catholic High School in Manhattan and attended Queens College in New York where she met her husband, Arthur Landrock. They were members of the first graduating class of Queens College. They lived in Massachusetts, Connecticut and then settled in Sparta, New Jersey in 1958. Rose-Marie lived in Sparta until 2006 when she moved to Massachusetts.

Rose-Marie is survived by her daughters Nancy Bertelli and her husband Paul of Hendersonville, North Carolina, Mary Jane Landrock and her boyfriend Bob of Redondo Beach, California, Joan Landrock of Budd Lake, New Jersey, Becky Zale and her husband Steve of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and Bobbi Landrock of Sparta, New Jersey, her grandchildren Michele Born and her husband Jason, David Bertelli and his wife Helen, Christina Bertelli, Beth Niccum and her husband Jon, Bruce Manley, and Renee, Eric and Rachel Zale, and her great-grandchildren Ian and Colin Born and Ava and Sophia Bertelli. She is predeceased by her parents Florence (Van Edsigna) and William McDonald, her husband Arthur Landrock, her daughter Virginia Hession and her granddaughter Christina Manley.

Rose-Marie had been a parishioner at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Sparta, New Jersey and was a member of The Lake Mohawk Country Club where she loved to walk on the boardwalk with her family or go to The Boardwalk Club. She was a regular at Beach Five in Lake Mohawk. She never lost her New York roots and loved to go to visit friends and relatives in the City or go to plays and musicals, and ice skating in Central Park or Rockefeller Center. She had been in plays while at Queens College in New York. She got to realize her lifelong dream of going on a cruise to Alaska with her daughter Mary Jane in 2002. She also traveled extensively throughout the United States as well as in Europe with her husband Arthur. She believed that everyone deserved a chance and was very generous in supporting people in need. She was a member of the League of Women Voters, the New Jersey Speech and Hearing Association, and the New Jersey Education Association and had been a member of the Child Study Team while working in the Newton, New Jersey school system where she had been a speech pathologist. She had also worked for Easter Seals and had given private lessons to people in need of speech therapy.

She adored her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and was an avid scrabble player, loved crosswords, reading, and playing cards such as progressive rummy. She was a huge animal lover and carried fond memories of her childhood dog, an Eskimo Spitz named King, throughout her life. During her lifetime she had various cats, dogs, and birds who she adored. She will be missed by many.

Visitation will be at The Goble Funeral Home, 22 Main Street, Sparta, New Jersey on Thursday, January 30 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Sparta, New Jersey at 11:00 am on Friday, January 31. Entombment will be at The Newton Cemetery immediately following.