Rosalie L. Garfield (nee Obenauf) passed away peacefully at Tomahawk Health Services (Golden Age), Tomahawk, on Nov, 15, 2019.
Our mother was born on the family farm in Lake Zurich, Illinois to Otto and Esther Obenauf, the sixth child of ten children, on Aug. 21, 1929. Mom met Dad, Russell D. Garfield, in the late 1940s, fell in love, and married on Aug. 24, 1949.
Rosalie and Russell had twelve children—six girls and six boys. As a carpenter, Dad was always working on some construction job, while our Mom was providing child care, housekeeping, shopping, laundry services, and cooking big meals. When there were slow times in construction, especially in winter, Mom went to work at Bell’s Apple Orchard making donuts and also worked in sales at a clothing shop to help with household expenses. Besides her children, she worked with Dad on numbers of job sites and with woodworking projects. After moving to Tomahawk in 1976, she attended a few classes at Nicolet College in Rhinelander. Furthermore, she earned her GED Certificate, which she was quite proud of.
Mom’s life was us…all of her children. Mom made our holidays memorable, especially Christmas. Making Christmas cookies and decorating the tree were family events. She had an infectious laugh, and sometimes, when the family would be socializing together, just being silly. Mom was a good cook and could take a can of soup and make it taste like it was restaurant-made. A special time for Mom was grocery shopping on Tuesdays with her friend Hazel; that was no easy task with two large shopping carts filled with groceries and toddlers. Rosalie was a loving wife, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was married to Russell for almost 58 years.
Rosalie is survived by her sons, Russell (Angie) Garfield, William (Melody) Garfield, Charles (Julie) Garfield, Theodore (Sheryl) Garfield, and Benjamin Garfield; and daughters, Kathleen (Thomas) Contri, Pamela (Dan) Mowers, Wanda Garfield (Don), Donna (Don) Powell, Christine (Ted) Heitschmidt, and Beverly (Red) Ingman; 29 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren. Her husband, Russell, her son Richard, her parents and all of her brothers and sisters preceded Mom in death. Our brothers, Charlie and Ted, were Mom’s caregivers while still able to live independently. Our sisters Bev and Chris visited often in the nursing home, making sure Mom had visitors and was comfortable, especially in her latter days. They were a godsend!
The Memorial Service for Rosalie Garfield was held on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 4 p.m. from Krueger Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Tomahawk. The Garfield family received friends at the funeral home Saturday afternoon from 2 p.m. until the time of services at 4 p.m. A celebration of her life followed at the Nokomis Town Hall at 5 p.m.
You may view the obituary and share online condolences at kruegerfamilyfuneral.com.