Obituary of Rose Shapiro

Our dearest mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away on Saturday, January 10, 2009 at the wonderful age of 97 years. She leaves to mourn her daughters, Lynn Einstein (Lionel Groberman), Ruth Shapiro and son Harvey Shapiro (Nilda). She also leaves her grandchildren, David Eric Goldman (Miriam), Michael Goldman (Bari), David Martin Goldman (Joelle), Jodi Cohen, Marilyn Oshry (Ron), Laura Cohen (Leanne), Jennifer Bogartz (Alex), and Ronnie and Aaron Shapiro. She was blessed with five precious great grandchildren, Jake and Nathan Goldman, Sara Oshry, and Ellie and Izzy Cohen-Labelle. She also leaves her dear brother and sister in-law, Nip and Essie Olyan from Edmonton and many loving nieces and nephews. Rose was predeceased by her beloved husband, Joseph Shapiro in March 1997 and her beloved parents, Harry and Betty Olyan, her sister Sara Shur, sister Adelle and brother Hyman Olyan. Rose was born in New York City in May 1911. Her family moved to Chipman and then Vegreville, Alberta where she spent her childhood. She briefly attended the University of British Columbia and worked in Vancouver but on a trip through Calgary in 1933 she was swept off her feet by our father Joe, was engaged in three days and married for sixty-three years. Calgary became her home for the rest of her life. Rose was a loving mother, superb cook, active volunteer in Hadassah and other organizations. She had many dear friends and was a devoted part of the large Shapiro Clan. Rose was a voracious reader and through her reading she travelled the world learned about other cultures and countries and kept pace with the changing times. Her grandchildren found her "cool" and turned to her often for her loving advice and opinion. Rosie, as she was called by the many people who loved her dearly was a loving, wise, thoughtful, generous and very caring woman. She had great insight, wisdom and judgement and was a source of guidance and inspiration to us all. In her quiet but very observant way she watched over us all. Her passing is a huge void in our lives Toward the end of her life when she needed more support we were blessed to have Jean Wilgus, Wennie Fallorin, Bessie Pelagio and Candy Baysa enter her life and provide her with loving care and companionship. We offer them our heartfelt thanks and also sincerely thank the care givers and nursing staff at the Renoir Retirement Home. We would like to thank Dr. Herget who took good care of Mom for many years. As her great grandson Jake said, " it isn’t fair, GG should have lived to be 100 and gotten a letter from the Queen", as her great-granddaughter Sara said," GG was supposed to live forever", we agree with both of them but are very grateful for the many years we had with our mother and grandmother. She died with the same quiet dignity that she had throughout her life. Funeral Services will be held at the Beth Tzedec Synagogue (1325 Glenmore Trail S.W.) today Tuesday, January 12, 2009 at 11:00 AM. Graveside Service to follow at the Jewish Cemetery (30th Avenue & Erlton Street S.W.). Arrangements in care of the CHEVRA KADISHA OF CALGARY, North East Corner of Highway 22X & 37th Street S.W., Telephone: 403-244-4717.