Rosemary Ann Larson

Rosemary Ann Larson

Rosemary Ann Larson was born on November 4, 1933, in rural Franklin, MN, to Melvin and Serena Hagevold, the second of five children. She was baptized and confirmed her faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior as a young adult at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Franklin.

After graduation from Franklin High School in 1951, Rosemary attended a teletype/communications school in Kansas City, MO. This prepared her to work for Pan American Airlines in Miami, FL, where she worked and lived until 1963. That's when her older brother, John, died of Hodgkin's disease. After his death, Rosemary moved back to MN to live with John's widow, Helen.

Soon after her move back to MN, Rosemary met George Larson while they both worked for General Motors. The couple married October 18, 1969. GM transferred George to Sioux Falls, SD, in 1974 and they lived there for twelve years. George did not like driving on wintry MN roads and took an early retirement from GM in 1986. These two liked Florida's weather, built a house near Dunnellon and lived there until 2019 when they moved to an assisted living facility in Ocala, FL.

They enjoyed FL, had wonderful neighbors and both played golf - a game they loved. Rosemary enjoyed singing in their church choir and often gave the Scripture reading in the front of the congregation Sunday mornings. In the 90's, Rosemary began to have difficulty with her balance and soon after her speech was affected. After numerous medical exams and doctor visits, Rosie (as everyone called her) was given the diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia. This disease eventually robbed her of her ability to walk and to talk. In 2001 Rosie also was treated with surgery, chemo and radiation for breast cancer and survived it.

September 17, 2021, Rosie lost her beloved husband, George, to cancer. Since the couple had no children, she could not be left without family in the memory care unit she had entered in 2020. Her siblings flew with her back to MN October 14, 2021. She then entered the memory care unit at The Commons in Eagan, MN. Rosie lived here her last five months until March 13, 2022, when Jesus took her with Him to live in heaven forever.

Rosemary is preceded in death by husband George; her parents; brother John and brothers-in-law Lavern Larson (Diane) and Marvin Garbers (Linda).

She is survived by brother Jerry Hagevold; sisters Diane Larson and Linda Garbers; nieces Wendy Garbers (Jason) and Amy Saunders (Will); nephews Jeff and Leland Larson and Scott and Craig Hagevold and many more loving family and friends.