Rosemary Ann Wendel

Words that describe Rosemary Wendel: Energetic, smart, determined, talented, sarcastic humor, hard-working, restless. She owned or lived in at least 26 houses or apartments during her lifetime, and she spent hours remodeling many of them. Rosemary Bernard entered this world in 1937 in Cincinnati during an historic flood of the Ohio River. She was blind at birth, but after several surgeries, she obtained sight in her right, blue eye. She saw only light, dark and shadows with her brown, left eye for most of her life. However, starting in her 70s, she could see colors and shapes with that eye. She grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She recounted stories about ice skating with the priests from St. Cyril’s at Hyde Park; burying her turtle, Myrtle in the yard of the old apartment house in which her family lived; scaring the apartments’ manager by jumping from balcony to balcony; being careful when walking under the nearby viaduct; taking her two brothers, Rick and Don, to cowboy movies; and dislocating her shoulder roller skating. Rosemary was tall, which she did not view as a positive. She had to show her birth certificate to bus drivers to get the child’s fare. She stood in the back with the boys when class pictures were taken. In dancing classes, she was assigned to dance as a boy. Later in life, she complained she set up tables and chairs instead of setting the tables or decorating the room. She wrote a letter entitled “Lament of a Tall Woman,” and gave it to people who commented on how “big” she was. She was a good student. She skipped first grade and graduated early from high school. Her family moved from the heart of the city to a suburb after her first year of high school. She took difficult courses, expecting to attend college. She sang and won a state competition. She worked at a local drug store where she disliked her boss and ate ice cream sodas to spite him. Her father forever disappointed her when he refused to pay for college, saying that only the boys should go to college. After high school, Rosemary moved back to the city and worked at the Sherman House Hotel. She met several celebrities there, including Nat King Cole who bought her lunch. She met her future husband, Andrew Wendel, while visiting relatives in Ohio. They married in 1958, and she moved to a small town, Ft. Recovery, Ohio, near Andy’s family. She kept busy raising three children – Ruthann, Bernard, and Christine. Andy and she remodeled a 100-year-old house. She worked for the newspaper, an insurance agency and as a secretary at Jetter’s Industries. Over time, the lack of shopping, activities, movies, and plays plus the insularity of a small town bothered her. When her mother became ill from cancer in the late 1960s, the family moved to the Chicago area. Rosemary got a job at a division of Illinois Tool Works. She started as a secretary and ended her career as Office Manager, the only manager there without a college degree. She was very proud of that feat. She worked at ITW for many years and made several life-long friends. She learned to golf in her late 40s and enjoyed playing on numerous golf courses in Illinois, Kentucky, and Florida into her 80s. She took art classes and painted several canvases. She and Andy retired to Kentucky, where Rosemary had purchased a house several years earlier. They golfed, traveled, and visited with relatives and friends. Sometimes Christine, who also moved to Kentucky after college, joined them as did Ruth when she visited the area. In 1995 Rosemary traveled to Belgium to help Ruth care for Anandan, Rosemary’s only grandchild, during his first month of life. Anandan spent extended periods of time in Kentucky “entertaining” his grandparents. Rosemary visited him during his parents’ (Ruth’s and Indran’s) postings in Cote d’Ivoire and Mexico. After a few years, Rosemary moved to another town in Kentucky, and started working part-time at the Fuller Center, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility. She enjoyed the antics of the clients and acquired another life-long friend, Cathy. In the early 2000s, Rosemary moved to Florida to help Ruth raise Anandan. Rosemary and Andy spent many hours sitting near the pool playing cards or dominoes. The ducks and turtles along the canal as well as pet parrot, Tater, entertained them. Rosemary accompanied Anandan on Scout outings and school trips. When Andy died in 2010, Rosemary sold the house in Wellington and she and Tater moved closer to the ocean. After painting every room in the townhouse, she decided to move to a retirement community. She chose Stone Creek in Ocala, and spent several years enjoying her friends, golfing, playing Mah Jong, Bocce, cards, bowling, singing with Glee Club, participating in Drama Club, and traveling with the Sociable Singles. In her late 70s, Rosemary felt Stone Creek and Ocala were getting too big and too busy. She missed the change of seasons, and she and Ruth started looking at retirement communities farther north. They settled on Mt. Vintage in South Carolina and started the process of having a house built. Unfortunately, in her mid-80s, Rosemary’s memory and cognition started to fail. Bank account statements became a mystery. She’d forget when people were coming to visit. Her son, Bernard, moved from Illinois in 2020 and joined her in Ocala. He helped with the chores, and they weathered COVID over the next couple of years. Rosemary fell a few times, eventually breaking her arm. Bernard took her to physical therapy and made sure she did her exercises at home. In early 2024, Rosemary moved with Ruth and Ruth’s boyfriend, John, to South Carolina. She started playing cards and Mah Jong, but her memory failed too often. She suffered more falls and got pneumonia. In the summer of 2025, she entered Edgefield Post-Acute Care. She enjoyed the food, played bingo as long as she could, and liked sitting outside, plotting her escape. After Christmas, she became ill and died on December 27, 2025. A week earlier, she whispered that she had ice cream, saw a show, and went horseback riding -- the things she enjoyed doing as a child. She worked hard and had a life loaded with projects, family, friends, laughter, and a lot of fun! She was predeceased by her parents, Wilbur and Lotta; her brother, Richard; and her husband, Andrew. She is survived by her brother, Donald and his wife, Beverly and family; her son, Bernard; her daughters, Ruthann and Christine and their long-time boyfriends, John and Dwayne; her grandson, Anandan, and his father, Indran; her godchild, Brian Wendel, his family; and many, many friends.

Tributes

Rosemary Ann Wendel

February 27, 1937 - December 27, 2025