Rose Anne (Edney) Rosenberg

Rose Anne (Edney) Rosenberg

Cedar Rapids

Rose Anne (Edney) Rosenberg, 89, of Cedar Rapids, passed away on Saturday, Sept. 23. With her passing, we are bereft of an extraordinary woman.

She was born on June 11, 1934, in Morganton, N.C., to James Quay Edney and Mayme Wilhelmina (Hronik) Edney. Her father and his family were mountain people. Her mother and her family were Czech, from Czech Village. She was raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains during her earliest years.

When Rose was 5, the family came to live in Cedar Rapids. She told stories of what a shock it was to adjust to living in the city, with all its noise and strangeness, after having lived in the rustic hill-country.

In 1953, Rose married Louis D. “Dave” Rosenberg in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Together they had three children, by whom she is survived: Michael (Pamela) Rosenberg, Martin (Sloane Hester) Rosenberg, and Heidi (Hal) Rosenberg Hartke. Rose is also survived by seven grandchildren, Nic Vaske, Katy Dooley, Marie Hartke, Liz Smith, James Rosenberg, Adam Rosenberg, and Julianne Giese, four great-grandchildren, Luna Dooley, Crew Rosenberg, Greer Rosenberg, and Isla Rosenberg, and other beloved family members. She was preceded in death by her parents, and three sisters, Bernice Baty, Jo Ellen Edney, and Ruth Handley, and many lifelong friends.

Rose drew people in; people would become fascinated with her. She was strong and navigated the 1970s as a successful saleswoman in fields dominated by men at the time. She was always beautifully well put-together, and she had exquisite taste. Clothes hung in her closets that still had the tags on. She kept things around her she loved – select pieces of antique furniture, darling china teacups, dried herbs, estate jewelry, linens made by her mother’s family.

While Rose was sometimes lovingly teased by her daughter that “many places she had been had her claw marks all over them,” it was equally true that her acts of heartfelt kindness and generosity had been liberally given to family, friends – even to complete strangers. She would give things away to those who needed them or who simply had a fondness for something of hers. She would cart lasagna, roasts, and casseroles downtown to shelters. She would take healing broths and ginger ale to whoever was feeling poorly. She even made a special chocolate cake for a fellow resident she hardly knew who had mentioned to her it was his birthday and that he sure missed the one his momma used to make for him.

Rose had a great passion for food and cooking. She studied cuisines and methods and revered cooking as an art. She owned over 200 cookbooks, and she adored watching cooking shows, meeting chefs, and talking shop with other foodies. She would matter-of-factly, without malice, critique any dish served to her; this included lavishing praise for the dish’s fine points. She just loved food. We who were the lucky recipients of her creations only admired her amazing skills.

As many grandmothers do, Rose would gleefully indulge her grandchildren with things they wanted, play finger games, scratch backs, bestow many hugs and kisses, and never let them be cold or go hungry. She was an enchantress, of sorts. There was a magic step that held little treasures for grandchildren, there were scarf dances in the living room, there was toe tea. She passed her magic to her children and grandchildren, and we are better for it.

As Rose wished, there will be no service. Close family and friends are welcome to attend inurnment in the Tranquility Garden at Cedar Memorial Cemetery at a later time. Memorials may be made to Kirkwood Culinary Arts.