Rosemarie Howard

Rosemarie Howard was called home to God early Saturday morning, April 25, 2026 at the age of 96. She was born December 31, 1929 in Davenport Iowa, a daughter of the late Gertrude (Sullivan) Garza and Phillip Garza.

Rosemarie is survived by five daughters and three sons, Donna Layshock (Dick), John Munos (Mona), Joanne Walker, Linda Beller (Jay), Kathleen Rew (Mike), Joseph Munos (Shelley), James Munos (Jo Ann) and Jeanne Clifton (Mike). She is also survived by 20 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren, her sister Abbe Fessenden, and brother Phil Garza as well as other family members.

Rosemarie was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa. She was married in Silvis, Illinois and later moved to Yuma, Arizona, where she spent many years raising her eight children and learning to ride horses. She later joined the workforce after her youngest daughter was in school, leading to a long and varied career.

She moved to California where she attended Real Estate school and became a licensed real estate agent. She also attended community college and took paralegal classes. Her combination of real estate skills and paralegal knowledge led to her employment as a legal secretary for a real estate attorney. She worked as a legal secretary for 26 years, finally retiring at the age of 82. During this time, she lived in Yucca Valley, California on 5 acres where she kept horses and enjoyed horseback riding. She drove 95 miles each way to work every day in her red-hot Ford Mustang.

Finally, convinced to move closer to family, Rosemarie moved to Arizona in 2023. She is well remembered by her family and friends as being strong, kind, generous, funny, feisty and a friend to all. She couldn’t stand the thought of anyone going hungry and always had a few dollar bills to hand out to those in need. She went to the gym every day until the age of 94, often telling people her brother first took her to a gym when she was 16 and she had been going to the gym ever since.

Rosemarie was always involved in her children’s activities, hauling them to swimming lessons and swimming meets. She taught them horseback riding and let them have friends over anytime, even though she already had eight children to watch over. She was a skilled seamstress and often made clothes for her children so they would have nice clothes to wear to school. The lessons she taught and the love she gave to her family will stay with them forever. Lessons such as “always keep a jacket in your car”; “don’t let your gas tank go below half full”; “don’t drive on bad tires”; and “if you fall off your horse, remember to roll”. She will always be remembered and loved.

Rosemarie loved flowers. In her memory, guests are invited to wear floral attire to her services.

Visitation will be at 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, May 3, 2026, at Valley of the Sun Mortuary & Cemetery located at 10940 East Chandler Heights Rd, Chandler, AZ 85248.

The Funeral service for Rosemarie will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday, May 4, 2026, at St. Stevens Catholic Church located at 24827 S Dobson Rd, Sun Lakes AZ 85248.

Burial will be at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, May 4, 2026, at Holy Redeemer Cemetery located at 23015 N Cave Creek Rd, Phoenix AZ 85024.

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