Annemarie Collins Rosenlund

Charlottesville, Virginia — An unknown legend passed away on July 3, 2022.

A few months ago I made the mistake of sharing a funny obituary with Annemarie. (Who knew there was such a thing as a funny obituary?) She laughed and promptly asked that I be responsible for hers. This would have elicited a few laughs from me except for two striking reasons. One, she was a terminal cancer patient who had out-lived her life expectancy by well over a year, and two - she was my mother-in-law.

I suppose that’s where I will start. As far as mother-in-law’s go, Annemarie was as awesome as they come. Non-interfering, smart, funny, and deeply proud of her kids. I had a former mother-in-law who was also top-notch so I know what I am talking about here - not that Annemarie ever held it against me. From the day she met me, she reminded her son what a lucky man he was. At our wedding, she had no asks, no requests, no mother-of-the groom nonsense. She was simply and beautifully present. When I became pregnant with her first grandson and worried for his well-being, she reminded me “honey, even crack addicts go on to have healthy children.”

And, of course, she would know. After all, she spent decades as an on-the-ground researcher for the University of Chicago, contributing to seminal studies on topics ranging from homelessness to drug use. She interviewed everyone from addicts and vagrants to Rhodes scholars. Unsurprising to any of us who knew her, they opened up to her. They shared their secrets, their truths, their fears, and she served as a witness to their lives. She safeguarded their stories for the rest of her life. Annemarie was a rare bird. Studious and curious in an age where women were meant to be anything but, she was born Ann Marie Collins on April 8, 1952 in Flushing, NY. She was the second youngest of six, and became best friends with a girl down the street named Roberta. Roberta and Annemarie would continue to be best friends for life. Annemarie moved to Charlottesville, VA in 2003 to help her friends Roberta and Bruce Williamson run the Charlottesville Ice Park. She quickly educated herself on all aspects of the subject of ice skating.

Annemarie’s greatest legacy however wasn’t her career. It was her children and her grandchildren - for nothing was more dear to her. She took every opportunity to educate her children and instill in them a sense of morality, integrity, and civic responsibility which has rippled into the world. Annemarie raised her kids as a single-mother (more often than not) in Durham, Oregon where she quickly became a cornerstone of a close-knit community. She had

many great moments of pride that she shared with me. The day my husband, her middle son, graduated from college, the day both her sons’ company, SpecialistID, broke a million dollars in revenue, and the day her daughter married a man she loved like a son.

Perhaps the most telling part about her life was that at the end, she was surrounded by all three of her children who could not have loved her more. She leaves behind three very heartbroken children (Michael, Patrick, and Cathleen, three of their spouses (Eliza, Shama, and Joe) whose lives were better for having known her, and five grandchildren (Logan, Joseph, Patrick, Archer, and Amara) whose punims were the light of her life.

She is preceded in death by her dearest youngest sister, Patricia Collins.

Wherever you are Annemarie, I hope there is a good book, a hot cup of coffee, and a toasted bagel. We will miss you forever.

RIP ANNEMARIE ROSENLUND 8 APRIL 1952 - 3 JULY 2022