ZELLMER, Rose Gillen of Braintree, formerly of Warwick, MA died peacefully on March 21, 2012 at the age of 89.
She is survived by her daughter Robin, grandchildren Brendan and Heather, great-grandchildren Spencer, Pearl and Megan and many nieces and nephews. Another daughter, Djuna, died in 2007. She is also survived by brother Nick Gillen of Leoti, Kansas.
Rose was born in Kansas, one of ten children. After completing nurse’s training in Wichita, Kansas, she served as a 1st Lieutenant in the Nurses Army Corps stationed at Fort Logan, Colorado, a disembarkment center for returning soldiers during World War II. There she met her future husband, David, a pilot in the South Pacific, who returning to resume a career with the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York City. They married and settled in New York. Her husband eventually began a career with CBS News and Rose taught LPN students at Lenox Hill Hospital. They moved to Warwick, Massachusetts in the mid 60’s where Rose stayed in the nursing field, from Director of Nurses at the Poet Seat Nursing Home to various administrative clinical positions at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield. At home Rose tended a large flower garden on their 90 acres of land and enjoyed making quilts for family members. After her husband’s death in 2004, she moved to the Boston area to be near family.
A memorial Mass will be held at St. Patrick’s Church in Northfield, Massachusetts on April 9, 2012 at 11:00 am. Interment will follow at the Warwick Cemetery, Warwick, MA.