Rosemary Towne Peffer Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Rosemary Towne Peffer, aged 99, passed away on 6 July 2022 at Tradition Senior Care in North Dallas, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s five years ago. Rosemary was born on 3 July 1923 in Marion, Indiana to Florentine Wills Towne and Salem Lockwood Towne, both of South Bend, Indiana. Her mother’s family were prominent in South Bend, being descendants of the founder of South Bend as well as the first enrolled student at Notre Dame University, which two of Rosemary’s three brothers attended. Rosemary was an avid sports fan, with Notre Dame always being top of her list, followed in order by the Detroit Tigers, Dallas Cowboys, Mavericks and Rangers. The TV was always reserved for Rosemary when sports were on, especially The Fighting Irish. Her father’s side settled in America in the seventeenth century, arriving from Great Yarmouth, England, with prominent relatives including Rebecca Nurse, a victim of the Salem Witch Trials, and Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross. Rosemary was preceded in death by her husband John Charles (Jack) Peffer and grandson Michael David Rhodes. Together, Rosemary and Jack, or Rosie the Riveter as Jack called her, based on a famous WWII recruiting poster, raised six children which all survive her. Her children and their spouses being David and Molly Peffer of Austin, Barbara and Kurt Lechtenberg of Dallas, Susan and Randolph Rhodes of League City, Janet Scheel of Houston, Mary and Bernal Reneer of Boerne and John and Sarah Peffer of Boerne. Rosemary was grandmother to 17. Her grandchildren and spouses being Brian Peffer, Megan and Dan Cirulnick, Erik and Julianne Lechtenberg, Christopher and Narae Lechtenberg, Craig and Katherine Lechtenberg, Stephen Lechtenberg, Michael Rhodes, John Rhodes, Elizabeth and Cullen Hogan, Erin Scheel, Stella and Danny Waxwing, Jennifer Scheel, Cole Reneer, Amanda and Andrew Stubblefield, Emily and Brandyn Treat, and Hannah and Leah Peffer. One of Rosemary’s last wishes in life was to be a great grandmother and she was blessed with three, Henry Cirulnick of Portland, Oregon and Jack and Clara Lechtenberg of San Antonio. And one more grandchild on the way. Rosemary was a long-standing member of All Saints Catholic Church in North Dallas, and active in the Mother Cabrini Circle for several decades. Rosemary graduated from Central High in South Bend, Indiana in May 1941 and unusual for a woman at the time, not only enrolled in university but chose to study a technical subject, Chemistry, at Indiana University. After the US entered WWII, she was recruited by RCA to study Electrical Engineering at Purdue University as part of the war effort. She met her future husband at Purdue where he was enrolled in the Marine Corps officer training program. Rosemary graduated from the RCA program and was sent to their facility in Camden, New Jersey, where she worked for 5 years on the design of sonar and radar equipment for the Navy. Rosemary and Jack married on 4 September 1948, and then the adventure really began. Jack earned his geophysics degree from St. Louis University in 1949 and joined Socony Oil (later Mobil Oil). His early career took Rosemary to Lampasas, Brady, Odessa and Monahans, Texas, Portales, NM, and after Jack finished serving with the Marines in Korea, to Dickenson and Bottineau, North Dakota and finally to Choteau, Cut Bank and Roundup, Montana. By then Rosemary was the mother of 4 young children. Her next adventure, beginning in 1956, was taking those children to a small oil field camp called Barinas, nestled against the Andes mountains in Venezuela. She would spend 5 years in Venezuela, including stops in Anaco and Caracas, before leaving in 1961 with child number 5 in tow and pregnant with number 6. After giving birth to her youngest, Rosemary moved to Tripoli, Libya in early 1962 and spent the better part of 8 years living in the North African country. Rosemary and family left Libya in 1970 and settled in Dallas where she would remain for the next 50 years, except for 2 years spent in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in the early 1980’s. Rosemary was always game setting up home wherever that might be, many times on her own due to her husband’s absences for work, all with no complaints. Just like Rosie the Riveter. In Dallas, her home was always lively with children and then grandchildren playing in the pool, enjoying barbeques and celebrating holidays, Thanksgiving being her and Jack’s favorite, with dinner always served and cleared before the Cowboys game. She would sometimes have 20 or more for Thanksgiving, set up at multiple tables around the house. She loved every second of these times with family and friends. Even after her husband’s passing, Rosemary maintained the house for another 20 years as it provided a place where her children, grandchildren and friends could congregate. Many wonderful times were had at her home on Mossvine Drive, always to be cherished. Through all these adventures Rosemary displayed her strength of character, faith in God, independence, intelligence and incredible patience as she and Jack raised their six children. She was our counselor, advisor, accountant, tutor, nurturer and protector as she guided us through the difficult teenage years, followed by university. Rosemary and Jack had a child in university for 20 consecutive years, most of the time with multiple children at once. In addition to sports, her respite from it all was her afternoon nap which her husband, children, grandchildren and friends all knew was not to be interrupted. She was also a voracious reader, the thicker the book the better with James Michener and Wilbur Smith being her favorites. All in all, she was the best mother a child could be blessed with, and we will miss her every day as we do our father. But we also know she led an incredible life and was ready to join her husband and we take solace and joy in that knowledge. We love you Mom. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the staff of The Tradition Prestonwood for the care and compassion Rosemary received during the five years it was her home. A service will be held for Rosemary at All Saints Catholic Church (5231 Meadowcreek Dr, Dallas), on Friday 12 August at 11:00, and she will be laid to rest with her husband at Restland Cemetery in Dallas. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the charity of your choice.

Rosemary Towne Peffer

July 3, 1923 - July 6, 2022