Rose Marie (Gilstrap) Powell Haptonstall

Rose Marie Gilstrap Powell Haptonstall, 95, of Odessa, Ector County, Texas, entered her heavenly home on Sunday, January 18, 2026. She was born January 14, 1931, in Ada, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, to Norman Ethery Gilstrap and Rosie (Rosa) Belle Spruell.

Rose Marie remembered going to school in a white one-room schoolhouse in Hobbs, New Mexico in 1936. A gifted student, she skipped two grades and graduated from Odessa High School in 1947. She played the clarinet in the high school band and performed in a four-person ensemble at her own graduation, held at Floyd Gwynn Auditorium.

She went on to graduate from Texas State College for Women (now Texas Woman’s University) in Denton, Texas, earning a Bachelor of Arts in History on June 4, 1951.

On August 27, 1951, Rose Marie married Esker Gene Powell in the First Baptist Parsonage in Odessa, Texas. Two children were born of this marriage: Norman Gene Powell, born June 24, 1952, in Paris, Texas, and Sharon Denise Powell, born June 24, 1959, in Big Spring, Texas. Rose Marie and Gene Powell were divorced on December 16, 1977.

On August 3, 1978, Rose Marie Powell married Jerry Donald Haptonstall in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Rose Marie devoted 36 years of her life to education, teaching first grade from 1953 until her retirement in June of 1990. She taught in Lovington, New Mexico; Bradenton, Florida; Big Spring, Odessa, Galveston, and La Marque, Texas. She was an active PTA leader, an Honorary Life Member of the Texas PTA, and served on numerous curriculum committees, including chairman of the reading adoption, math and team-teaching committees. In 1961, she received the Rotary Teacher of the Month award at Burnet Elementary in Galveston. She was also a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society for Teachers.

Rose began teaching first grade in Lovington, New Mexico in 1953 in a teacher's lounge with 30 children crammed into it. It was a hard first year. She taught in Lovington from 1953-1957. The family then moved to Big Spring, Texas where she taught at Airport Elementary. At one point a tornado was coming all the way from Pecos and Rose Marie ran the kids in from the playground. "I told them, if I holler, get under the desks and PRAY!" The Airport Elementary was right by the Webb Air Force base and the classes could hear the fighter planes taking off. Everything would have to stop because you couldn't hear anything. The next year, she moved to Cedar Crest Elementary in Big Spring. The following year, the family had moved to Bradenton, Florida and she worked at Manatee Elementary. Odessa beckoned the family for four years and Rose Marie worked with Gale Pond at Alamo Elementary. She really enjoyed working there and working with Gale.

Galveston was the next stop, working at San Jacinto and then Island Elementary. Island was a barracks building with no air conditioning available. The family stayed in the area, but moved off the island to LaMarque, Texas. Rose Marie called Highland Elementary her home for the next 20 years. She had many bright and talented children and loved them dearly.

Rose Marie joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on January 3, 1974, in La Marque, Texas, and faithfully served in ward and stake callings for more than 42 years, including librarian, seminary teacher, and teaching about family history.

Rose Marie was blessed to have a great love and interest in family history. She has served in many genealogical groups and her husband, Jerry supported her in this. Along with finding her own family lines, discovering her own Native American lines, Rose discovered ancestors who helped found our country. This led her into joining the Daughters of the American Revolution in February of 1985 in league City, TX-Sam Houston Chapter. Later, after moving to Fayetteville, Arkansas, she served in the Marion DAR Chapter where she was Honorary Chapter Regent, DAR Osage District Chairman, President for DAR regents Club, Arkansas Pioneers, Cameo Society President, President of the DAR officers Club, Co-Chairman of the DAR State Conference, Arkansas State Registrar for the DAR, Honorary State Regent for Daughters of the

American Colonists, State Regent for the Magna Charta Dames and Barons, National Director Members at Large for New England Women, Arkansas State 2ⁿᵈ Vice Regent for Colonial Dames of the

Seventeenth Century, Southern Memorial Association, First Families of the Twin Territories, Honorary State Regent and Osage Secretary Treasurer. In addition, Rose also joined the United

Daughters of the Confederacy, The Guild of Colonial Artisans, the Plantagenet Society, the Arkansas Pioneers, the Union Soldiers, 1861-1865, Americans of Royal Descent, and the Colonial Order of the Crown.

Rose Marie was quoted when she was Co-Chairman of the Arkansas DAR State Conference. "I love history and l'm real interested in finding out about my ancestor", she said in a story by

Jennifer Hansen in the Northwest Arkansas Times. She said she has identified five ancestors who were patriots who fought in the American revolution: Peter Gilstrap and others - Her favorite is

Gilstrap. "When I was doing research in North Carolina, I discovered that he hated paying taxes," she said laughing. "He would try to hide his assets from the tax collectors, and he was always getting fined."

She also traced her heritage back to her fourth great grandmother who was a full-blooded Cherokee born in North Carolina in the early 1700's. Rose's great grandfather was a Seminole lndian. Three of her genealogy lines trace back to Adam and Eve.

In addition to all this, after retirement, Rose and Jerry both worked at the Veterans Administration Medical Center on a volunteer basis. She received the Arkansas DAR Veteran Service Award because of this.

As a couple, they traveled to Finland, Sweden, Scotland, England, Germany, France, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Holland, Ireland, Wales, Norway, Denmark and British Columbia. Jerry preceded her in death on April 21, 2013, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Rose Marie is survived by her two children: son, Norman Gene Powell and wife Jennifer of Aiken, South Carolina; daughter, Sharon Powell Ormsby and husband Jimmie of Odessa, Texas; sister-in-law Wilma Davenport of Georgia; 14 grandchildren and 41 great-grandchildren.

A public viewing will take place at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, from 10:00 am to 10:55 am. Funeral services will begin at 11:00 am.

A graveside committal will be held at Small Cemetery in Edgewood, Texas on Thursday, January 29th at 10:00 am.