Bowers

Rose Hartley Bowers, dedicated wife, mother and educator, passed away of cancer April 1.

Rose lived by the maxim: "Do the best you can with what you've got." and was known for her positive outlook, sunny disposition and outgoing nature.

Rose was born Rose Hartley to Gertude and Hodgon Hartley in State College, Pa., Aug. 30, 1923.

Rose was one of three children and received her early education in Philadelphia and Wildwood, N.J. Rose graduated from Wildwood High School in June 1941, received her bachelor of science in education at New Jersey State Teachers College at Glassboro, now Rowan University, in New Jersey, in January 1945, and earned her master's degree in education at the University of Pittsburgh in December 1972.

Rose met Roy C. Bowers at a 1946 USO dance in Wildwood, N.J., where she was teaching first grade and he was recently discharged from the Navy. They married July 30, 1946, and their life together took them from New Jersey to Mars and Valencia, Pa., then to Guam, Kentucky, California, and finally to Prescott, Ariz., where they retired.

While living in Mars and Valencia, Rose taught kindergarten. In 1963, she initiated the Middlesex Community Kindergarten at Middlesex Elementary School, where she taught for 13 years.

Everywhere she lived, Rose taught kindergarten or elementary students, doing the best with what she had and sharing her optimistic spirit with thousands of children.

Rose was a 50-plus-year Eastern Star member and an active volunteer in the communities in which she lived. In Prescott, until health forced her to cease, she volunteered at Prescott Trinity Presbyterian Church, Taylor Hicks School and Yavapai Regional Medical Center.

Rose was preceded in death by her husband, Roy, and her daughter, Sandra.

Rose is survived by her sister, Margaret Young of Staten Island, N.Y.; her brother, Hodgon Hartley of Colorado Springs, Colo.; her children Roseanne Baker of Orcus Island, Wash., Kirk Bowers, of Seattle, Wash., and Charley, of Chanute, Kan.; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Rose did the best with what she had and when she left, the world was better for her being here.