Rose Mary Satack

97 years of a well lived life ended on March 1 in St Paul when Rose Mary passed away. Her parents Julianna and Steve preceded her, as did her six protective older brothers: Steve, Jay, Chuck, Louie, Bill, and Victor; also nieces and nephews John, Will, Chuck, Joe, Danny, Nancy, David, Steve, Mary Ellen, Paul, Jimmy and Vincent.

Missing her are nieces Bev Williams, Mary Ivy, Elizabeth Wolf, Kathie Baldwin, Sally Bigalke, and Peggy Satak, nephew Bill Satack Jr, as well as great nieces and nephews Carrie, Diana, Julie, Jenny, Laura, Ariana, Mason, Joe, Jake, Nathan, Jay, Rick, John, Jay, Elaine, Nolan, Vicky, Marion, Mindy, Angel, Rick, Karen, Jenny, Chuck, Madison, Taylor, Katie, Tom, Kate, Cindy, Jody, Debbie, Chrissy, Victoria, Jaime, Jill, Vanessa, Victor, Tanya, Will, Steve and Jay and their families, as well as many friends.

Her parents were born in Hungary and while they adapted quickly, the times presented many challenges. So

Rose Mary’s first sixteen years were defined by the shortages and challenges of the Depression and WWII, leading her to form lifelong frugal habits.

But hardships didn’t prevent her  from excelling at Mechanic Arts HS, and her achievements were rewarded with a full scholarship to the College of St. Catherine. She received her degree in English, Latin and Education and ‘apprenticed’ in rural Minnesota towns.   

She then taught in West St Paul, mainly at Grass JH. During summers, she completed master’s degree coursework in guidance counseling. After four decades of teaching and counseling, Rose Mary retired in 1987.

As she promised in her retirement speech to her colleagues, she also  retired her alarm clock and relished leisurely mornings. They were followed by full days when she nurtured berries and colorful flowers, sometimes taking breaks in the garden-view gazebo her brothers built for her.

She enjoyed celebrating the birthdays and achievements of nieces and nephews, and she competed with herself doing daily puzzles, competed with family at board games (we never figured out whether she let us win), and competed with TV game show contestants from her living room.  

And Rose Mary enjoyed swimming with friends at the Y, concerts, learning to play the organ, decorating for each holiday, and snowpeople in any form--figurines, photos or the outdoor snowy version. She loved cats, too; when Spooky and Tiger and Panther asked for help at her doorstep, she invited them in, healed their ailments and gave them the home of their dreams.

Although frugal with herself, she was quietly generous with others. And she deeply treasured her Catholic faith, supporting and attending beautiful and historic St. Louis Church.

Her standards were high. She did things the “right” way. Her nieces and nephews may tell you she expected as much of them.

In addition to her welcoming presence, family will remember her generous and lavish storybook-worthy Christmas celebrations, when she showered them with carefully selected and perfectly wrapped gifts. Her home was a model of Christmas cheer, scented with her freshly baked Hungarian kolacs. Her Christmas celebrations were the signature events each year for our family.

Memorial suggestions: Catholic Charities of Ramsey County or your favorite animal rescue.

Please join us for Mass at 10 am on Saturday, April 12 at St. Louis Church, 506 Cedar Street, St Paul. Visitation 9 to 10 am.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Rose Mary Satack, please visit our floral store.