Rosa Wastian

Our amazing mother/grandmother Rosa Wastian sadly passed away on June 25,2020. She touched so many lives with her kind and caring heart and will always be remembered for her strength and beautiful soul. She cherished family and friends, spoke highly of them all and loved to bake everyone’s favorite cakes for their birthdays. She was a gifted seamstress who made most of her own clothes and those of her family throughout her life. She had a special knack for gardening and every February she would have over 1,000 daffodils in her yard. She loved feeding her “birdies” and tending to her beautiful garden. She was here when she was called home. Our hearts are broken.

She was born in Holzkirchen Germany on February 18, 1935 to Michael Wastian and Theresia Bacher Wastian. She is survived by her son Alan Jay Boyington (wife Debbie) and 2 daughters, Pauline Reiber (husband Jon) and Veronica Ramirez (husband Raul), grandchildren Cynthia Eckstine, James Dean, Mark Dean, Rachael Sanchez, Katie Moore, James Boyington, Eli Boyington, Michelle Boyington, Joshua Boyington, Jessica Garrett, Billy James, Sammuel Ramirez and Roman Ramirez and 16 great grandchildren, 1 brother and 3 sisters. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Janie Michelle Hicks, and her son Michael Paul Boyington.

Rosa was raised in Germany during WWII. Her father, a soldier was declared missing in action and never returned home, leaving her mother to care for 5 young children under extremely harsh conditions bombs dropped near their home would shatter the windows, exposing the family to the freezing German winters. They had to jump into trenches to avoid being hit when outside. After the war, food was scarce, and they had to wait in line for hours for a single a loaf of bread. Once when Rosa was 9 she and her sister was 11 they had to take a 2 day train ride just to get potatoes for the family.

Rosa married an American soldier, Paul Boyington and they moved to the US where she obtained her citizenship in 1964. He was in the Air Force for 20 years and the family moved from state to state. He was often stationed away from home for for long periods of time, leaving Rosa to tend to her 5 young children alone, much like her mother. She baked and cooked everything from scratch. She fixed roof leaks, she made her children’s clothes. She scrubbed and maintained their home to perfection.

Rosa endured many adversitites throughout her life but faced them all with an unwaviering determination, grace and diginty. She’s was either an remarkable woman and will be deeply missed.

Her legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of everyone who knew her. Please join us for an outdoor reception to celebrate her life on Saturday July 11, 2020 at 2 pm, 24180 Third Ave. Stevinson, CA 95374.

Services for Rosa Wastian are in the care of Whitehurst-Norton-Dias Funeral Service (FD 504) in Turlock, California.