Pauline Benjamin Rose

Pauline Benjamin Rose of Mclean passed away on July 18. Born in Brooklyn to Stella and Sydney Benjamin on May 25, 1927, she was raised in Lynbrook, Long Island. After graduating from Lynbrook High School in 1944 she entered the wartime Cadet Nurse program at Adelphi University. As an RN she worked at hospitals in the New York City area, Biloxi, Miss., and Roswell, New Mexico, as well as for the Red Cross. It was while working on a Red Cross Blood Drive in New York City that she met FBI agent Bill Rose. They began dating and were married a few months later.

Bill Rose later worked in the oil industry. This career change sent the Roses, Polly, Bill and daughter Diane, far from the confines of New York to towns scattered across the oil patch – Oklahoma City, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, Tulsa and Houston. Wherever they went Polly made scores of friends, remaining in contact with many for decades. In the sixties, under the auspices of the Library of Congress, she became a Braille translator. She excelled at this demanding work, earning a Certificate of the Library of Congress award.

Beyond her family Polly’s main interest was golf. A natural athlete, she took to the game with a passion. Well into her eighties she played twice a week as long as the weather cooperated. Her TV was often on the Golf Channel and she was a font of information about the PGA pros, the courses and even the announcers

Polly lived a full and independent life until the very end. Taking care of herself and others and navigating her Camry through the worst of Northern Virginia’s ferocious traffic. Undaunted by technology, she was a dedicated internet user since first logging on in 1995, downloading and doing the New York Times crossword puzzle every day. Widely read, she stayed abreast of world events, local issues, cultural trends, and even sports news. Art was a lifelong interest, and over the past decade she had taken numerous classes and showed her work, mainly in colored pencil, at numerous exhibits. Always in motion, she also managed to visit every continent except Antarctica.

Her husband Bill preceded her in death. Her daughter Diane Rohn of Mclean, sister Ruth Coleman, grandchildren Major Ben Rohn, USMC of Okinawa, Foreign Service Officer Jessica Rohn of Nicosia, Cyprus and Foreign Service Officer Sarah Rohn of Washington DC, and three great granddaughters survive her.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers contributions be made in Polly’s name to the American Cancer Society.

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