Rose Ketchum

She met Dick in the 6th grade at Wyman Elementary School and they graduated from East High School together in 1950.

She was raised in the Christian Science Church and developed a deep and intuitive insight of the spiritual aspect of life. On December 5, 1952 Rose and Dick were married and they joined the Divine Science Church of Denver where they continued their religious quest.

They were blessed with two boys, Mike and Mark and had four grand children and 9 great grandchildren.

Rose enjoyed music, gardening, square dancing and the social functions of the various groups and organizations that she belonged to. Her church had a social group of married couples that met socially monthly for lunches, dinners, pot lucks and she and Dick enjoyed meeting with them through the years.

Rose joined Radiant Chapter 12, Order of the Eastern Star and in 1976 she became the Worthy Matron. In 1979 she was the Grand Chaplain of the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star of Colorado. She went on to join The Order of Amaranth, The White Shrine of Jerusalem and The Daughters of the Nile.

Her other joy in life was gardening. She became a Master Gardener of Colorado, Douglas County Chapter and she was in the process of developing a bird sanctuary at her home. She especially liked cardinals and hummingbirds and could replicate many of their calls. She had a special devotion for iris and roses and her garden at one time had 3000 iris. She planted numerous trees, bushes, peach, pear and apple trees which bore ample supplies of fruit. She belonged to the American Rose Society and the American Iris Society.

And she loved anything chocolate.

She also had a deep love of music. She found time to take voice lessons for 12 years from her high school music teacher and she enjoyed singing for various organizations and her church. Her preference was classical music and she and her music teacher would attend music programs, operas, etc. together until her teacher’s health forced her into retirement.

After her boys grew up she decided to go back into the business world and she worked part time for a few companies and then went to work for the Aurora Municipal Employees Federal Credit Union as office manager. She held that position until they both retired in 1990 and moved to California for 7 years and then returned to Denver.

While in California, she became the office manager of a credit union in Sacramento. While living there she again took courses in gardening and became a Master Gardener of California. The chapter in her county had a weekly Saturday morning two hour radio show that allowed anyone with a question about gardening to call in and they would supply the necessary information. Rose enjoyed hosting those Saturday morning programs.

Upon returning to Denver, Rose and Dick joined The RV Roamers, a group of motor home owners who held monthly meetings. In the summer months the meetings were a long weekend trip around the state to enjoy our beautiful country and in the winter months, it was a lunch or brunch meeting and once a year they had a caravan to see new country.

Rose and Dick and a group of parents had the opportunity to host a group of Japanese exchange students for a semester. There were 28 students in the group and each couple had one student in their home. It was a very rewarding experience.

The following year Rose and Dick went to Japan to visit their student and his family. The student became their tour guide and they traveled Japan and had a chance to see 26 of the original group.

We continued to enjoy traveling until Rose’s health made it necessary for us to sell our motor home.

Rose spent 4 ½ years in a nursing home until passing peacefully in her sleep on May 19, 2020. She will always be in our memory.

A memorial service will be held at a future date.