In the later years brother Pete seemed to me to be an outgoing guy when we visited, especially when around company. He enjoyed cooking and preparing meals and telling people what he thought about different things. One time I can remember he promised to make a home-cooked meal and when we came over we were taken by the fabulous meal he had meticulously prepared a gluten free meal for Provie and me. We were really impressed at the attention to detail made by “Chef Pete” and how he could tell story after story about this, that and the other.
No one leaves this life without affecting others in some way. For me it was Tuesday February 16th in the early evening when I was told the clock stopped for Peter Roman Rose. He was my brother for over 70 years. After a lengthy illness kept hidden until just a short time before his passing, revealed a person determined not to share his pain for fear that it would be worrisome to the people he loved most. Finally, Pete succumbed to the Father’s will. He experienced what we all will experience one day and that is the Father calling us back to Himself in everlasting love. What lies beyond the grave will always remain a mystery to us here in an earthly life and should not concern me or you as much as what we are capable of doing in the present while still here in this life.
Everyone has a purpose in this life and leaves this life also with a purpose, whether they know it or not. I never thought I would be putting thoughts and words together for a remembrance of my younger brother Pete at his funeral Mass, but this is the reality that is before me. Perhaps one purpose of Pete’s life was to show the Father’s love in a special way during this season of Lent. Perhaps one purpose for me writing this, might be to reveal what I am about to say...
But first a little background, Pete and I were part of an immigrant family coming to America in 1950, to start a new life thanks to the help offered by the American government at the time, to establish residency in the United States. We took passage on a U.S. troop ship and eventually, I am told, found harbor in Boston due to a storm preventing our arrival at Ellis Island. We were then given further passage to a Catholic Charities hosting family for resettlement in Iowa. Dad worked the family farm until he received a call, some months later to come to NYC where he could search for a more permanent job to support our family. There we grew up...
During our early years, we settled in the lower East Side of Manhattan in a largely immigrant neighborhood. We had friends and schoolmates, like all families do and attended St. Emmerich’s Catholic Church on 12 St. Our growing years were probably no different than any other family looking for friendship, to play with and feel at home. As we got older, our interests varied, Pete joined the Sea Cadets, and I became a member of the Civil Air Patrol. After high school, Pete remained at home and I enlisted in the Marine Corps. After returning home four years later, Pete had married Judy and had one child, Denise, and was soon to have another child, Peter making him a proud husband and father to his wife and children.
In the later years, that followed Pete continued to work in the City raising his family, while Provie and I (then married) moved away seeking a career in Aviation. We continued to stay in touch, through the years with visits and occasional phone calls to each other.
While I did not know Pete as well as some of you did in the later years, we always seemed to maintain that bond of being brothers as distant from each other as we were. We were always somehow similar but also very different in personality and temperament. Pete in my estimation was the smarter, taller and more handsome of us two and besides, I was told, he knew how to play the numbers and the horses of which I had no clue.
In the later years brother Pete seemed to me to be an outgoing guy when we visited, especially when around company. He enjoyed cooking and preparing meals and telling people what he thought about different things. One time I can remember he promised to make a home-cooked meal and when we came over we were taken by the fabulous meal he had meticulously prepared a gluten free meal for Provie and me. We were really impressed at the attention to detail made by “Chef Pete” and how he could tell story after story about this, that and the other.
I also remember the time when Pete, Jackie and the rest of the Rose contingent came to Memphis on two occasions, to visit. One was for my Ordination in 2000 and the other to vacation at my friend’s cabin in Arkansas. Each time Pete seemed handsome as ever and always with something humorous to catch us off guard, to say. Then there was Disney World vacation where we came together once again as family. A great time to be had by all.
Pete, as outgoing as he seemed to be, also appeared to have a more private side when it came to sharing certain things. I don’t know if it was just his nature, but he seemed to prefer to keep many things to himself. I believe he may have had a sense that he did not want to worry us about his personal problems. Unfortunately, we did not have the benefit of knowing some of the more important things on his mind.
The best way I can describe my brother is that he was a selfmade person with some rough edges. He was a friend to many, and I found that many people took a liking to him and some with great admiration. He was interesting to talk to since he always seemed to know a little about everything, whether it be politics or something that was brought up in random conversations. He liked to socialize and be the life of the party. I remember one time in 2017 when we went to Austria to see family, he hosted an evening out at one of the local beer gardens and we all had a ball. We joked, ate very well and drank lots of beer. The evening was a hit with the family and friends and Pete was the reason!
For those of you who knew Pete you can probably tell more than what little I know, due to my absence in the later years of his life. What I do know is, though he may not have shown it, he had a great inner care and concern especially for his children and family. He often told me in one way or another the love he had for his kids and grandkids and always seemed concerned as to how they were doing.
With regard to our mother “Mama Kay” (Omie) in her declining years, Pete took an active role, in her care. This by all accounts had to be a strain on him, but Pete handled it the best way he could all by himself since I lived in another state.
To the best of my understanding, Pete was a believer, but may not have necessarily practiced his faith regularly. He lived his life according to the way he saw things. I do know that whenever I had dealings with him, he always displayed honesty and integrity with family matters.
It seemed to me that Pete could carry on a conversation with anyone and sometimes use colorful language and then balance it with something humorous to say to keep from getting too serious about things. He seemed to take delight in making people laugh being the life of the party.
Just a few weeks or so ago, I was speaking to brother Pete on the phone as he was telling me of his problems and that he was not feeling good. It is still hard to believe, that from health complications he would leave us so soon and unexpectedly. But you see God had a plan for Pete and that plan called for him to come home at some point and it turned out that this was the time. While we are all saddened by Pete’s passing. For those of us who knew him and could get around his sometimes, crusty shell, we would also know there is another side to my brother. He had a heart for his friends and family but would not show it easily.
Pete was a good brother to me. Like all brothers we sometimes had our moments, but like brothers we loved each other in a brotherly way. Inevitably, we were to go our separate ways, him with his family, and me with Provie in pursuit of family life and an aviation career.
When I think about Pete’s passing it makes me sad, but it also makes me glad that we were a part of each other’s life to the extent possible. There were joys and yet there were also sorrows and misgivings and all that comes with family relationships. But the best that I can say of those days is that Pete was his own person, and he felt free enough to be exactly that, even though there were times when his words and actions hurt others. Pete was a private person in many ways. While he enjoyed company and friendships, he also valued honesty and being true to one’s word. While his language was not the cleanest all the time, I for one did believe he had a great sense of personal worth.
But this is a time to put away the cares and woes and misgivings that any one of us might have had knowing Pete. Let’s rather try to focus on the life that was given by the Father’s will and honored with the gift of freedom to live one’s life as they so choose. Gone are the trials that Pete had to endure during his life. Gone are the fears he may have had when things took an unexpected turn. Gone are the days of personal suffering he endured to keep others from worrying about him!
After it’s all said and done, all any of us are left with is the mystery of God’s unfathomable, non-judgmental love and eternal mercy. A love that does not count the cost or brood in the lack of attention by the one whose love is sought.
Now, as for what I started out in the beginning of this remembrance to say, I think Paul said it best in his letter to the Corinthian people (1 Cor 13:1-8) when he expressed the real meaning of love. It is a great choice by Denise and Pete to pick this for one of Dad’s Mass readings. Why? because of what it says in part that sums up what this gathering is all about... Love is
patient, love is kind... “It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things...”
Now, being made mindful of that, it means to have a huge awareness of what love is in its truest sense. In other words, we have been chosen to exemplify what love means in every sense of the word, as much as possible, while we are still present in this world with our loved ones, as well as others. Why, you may ask? because we are all going to pass on one day. The best legacy we can leave our loved ones and for the world, is to have practiced and therefore witnessed LOVE in every possible way. Then we can also be assured we are following the Father’s way back to Him!
Come Holy Spirit fill us with that which is so fleeting, by his voice repeating, that gracious name called love...
I also remember the time when Pete, Jackie and the rest of the Rose contingent came to Memphis on two occasions, to visit. One was for my Ordination in 2000 and the other to vacation at my friend’s cabin in Arkansas. Each time Pete seemed handsome as ever and always with something humorous to catch us off guard, to say. Then there was Disney World vacation where we came together once again as family. A great time to be had by all.
Pete, as outgoing as he seemed to be, also appeared to have a more private side when it came to sharing certain things. I don’t know if it was just his nature, but he seemed to prefer to keep many things to himself. I believe he may have had a sense that he did not want to worry us about his personal problems. Unfortunately, we did not have the benefit of knowing some of the more important things on his mind.
The best way I can describe my brother is that he was a selfmade person with some rough edges. He was a friend to many, and I found that many people took a liking to him and some with great admiration. He was interesting to talk to since he always seemed to know a little about everything, whether it be politics or something that was brought up in random conversations. He liked to socialize and be the life of the party. I remember one time in 2017 when we went to Austria to see family, he hosted an evening out at one of the local beer gardens and we all had a ball. We joked, ate very well and drank lots of beer. The evening was a hit with the family and friends and Pete was the reason!
For those of you who knew Pete you can probably tell more than what little I know, due to my absence in the later years of his life. What I do know is, though he may not have shown it, he had a great inner care and concern especially for his children and family. He often told me in one way or another the love he had for his kids and grandkids and always seemed concerned as to how they were doing.
With regard to our mother “Mama Kay” (Omie) in her declining years, Pete took an active role, in her care. This by all accounts had to be a strain on him, but Pete handled it the best way he could all by himself since I lived in another state.
To the best of my understanding, Pete was a believer, but may not have necessarily practiced his faith regularly. He lived his life according to the way he saw things. I do know that whenever I had dealings with him, he always displayed honesty and integrity with family matters.
It seemed to me that Pete could carry on a conversation with anyone and sometimes use colorful language and then balance it with something humorous to say to keep from getting too serious about things. He seemed to take delight in making people laugh being the life of the party.
Just a few weeks or so ago, I was speaking to brother Pete on the phone as he was telling me of his problems and that he was not feeling good. It is still hard to believe, that from health complications he would leave us so soon and unexpectedly. But you see God had a plan for Pete and that plan called for him to come home at some point and it turned out that this was the time. While we are all saddened by Pete’s passing. For those of us who knew him and could get around his sometimes, crusty shell, we would also know there is another side to my brother. He had a heart for his friends and family but would not show it easily.
Pete was a good brother to me. Like all brothers we sometimes had our moments, but like brothers we loved each other in a brotherly way. Inevitably, we were to go our separate ways, him with his family, and me with Provie in pursuit of family life and an aviation career.
When I think about Pete’s passing it makes me sad, but it also makes me glad that we were a part of each other’s life to the extent possible. There were joys and yet there were also sorrows and misgivings and all that comes with family relationships. But the best that I can say of those days is that Pete was his own person, and he felt free enough to be exactly that, even though there were times when his words and actions hurt others. Pete was a private person in many ways. While he enjoyed company and friendships, he also valued honesty and being true to one’s word. While his language was not the cleanest all the time, I for one did believe he had a great sense of personal worth.
But this is a time to put away the cares and woes and misgivings that any one of us might have had knowing Pete. Let’s rather try to focus on the life that was given by the Father’s will and honored with the gift of freedom to live one’s life as they so choose. Gone are the trials that Pete had to endure during his life. Gone are the fears he may have had when things took an unexpected turn. Gone are the days of personal suffering he endured to keep others from worrying about him!
After it’s all said and done, all any of us are left with is the mystery of God’s unfathomable, non-judgmental love and eternal mercy. A love that does not count the cost or brood in the lack of attention by the one whose love is sought.
Now, as for what I started out in the beginning of this remembrance to say, I think Paul said it best in his letter to the Corinthian people (1 Cor 13:1-8) when he expressed the real meaning of love. It is a great choice by Denise and Pete to pick this for one of Dad’s Mass readings. Why? because of what it says in part that sums up what this gathering is all about... Love is
patient, love is kind... “It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things...”
Now, being made mindful of that, it means to have a huge awareness of what love is in its truest sense. In other words, we have been chosen to exemplify what love means in every sense of the word, as much as possible, while we are still present in this world with our loved ones, as well as others. Why, you may ask? because we are all going to pass on one day. The best legacy we can leave our loved ones and for the world, is to have practiced and therefore witnessed LOVE in every possible way. Then we can also be assured we are following the Father’s way back to Him!
Come Holy Spirit fill us with that which is so fleeting, by his voice repeating, that gracious name called love...
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