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Remembering a loved one

Victim Of Hunting Accident Was ‘An Angel,’ Husband Says

Submitted photo Jamie Billquist said he met Rosemary about 27 years ago at the Chautauqua Mall. Rosemary was reportedly walking her dogs in Sherman on Wednesday when she was shot by Thomas B. Jadlowski, 34, also of Sherman, who told investigators he thought he saw a deer in the field.

Rosemary Billquist had a tendency of putting others first. And that certainly included animals, said her husband, Jamie Billquist.

“Many years ago, in typical Rosemary style, she was driving our car with our dogs inside to go take a blanket to some ducks that were down by the pond,” Jamie Billquist said. “After she got out, the car must have not been in park because it started to roll and went in the ditch.”

“Everyone was fine,” he continued. “But that’s just how she was. I never met anyone in my life like her. She always put everyone else first.”

Jamie Billquist said he has received an outpouring of support from family, friends and co-workers of Rosemary, who died Wednesday evening after she was accidentally shot while walking their dogs in Sherman. Thomas B. Jadlowski, the son of the Billquists’ neighbors on Armenian Road, told Chautauqua County sheriff’s deputies he thought he saw a deer 200 yards away around 5:25 p.m. when he fired his pistol.

After hearing Rosemary scream, Jadlowski rushed to her side and called 911. Rosemary, 43, was rushed to UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pa., where she was pronounced dead.

Jamie Billquist said he has known Jadlowski, 34, for many years and hopes this incident “can be used as a lesson.”

“It’s tragic. Very tragic,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Office was continuing its investigation into Wednesday’s shooting with the assistance of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office has been contacted regarding possible charges; none have been filed at this time.

It is illegal to hunt in New York after sunset.

Jamie Billquist said he met Rosemary about 27 years ago at the Chautauqua Mall. They eventually bought a small house in Jamestown — even though they were “still just really young at the time,” Jamie Billquist said before the pair moved to Rosemary’s childhood home in Sherman. Rosemary was a volunteer with Chautauqua Hospice and Palliative Care and worked at UPMC Chautauqua WCA hospital.

“It’s a shame,” Jamie Billquist said. “She loved life and was an angel. She volunteered with the pet program and would bring pets to those in hospice.”

Rosemary was also active outdoors, running in several marathons and taking part in triathlons. Jamie Billquist joked that Rosemary was the more athletic of the two.

“I was definitely there for support,” he said.

Joni Harvey, director of Health Information Management at WCA, said Rosemary was loved by everyone she met, especially patients around the Jamestown hospital. In fact, she said Rosemary once brought a bench from home to place near the hospital entrance after meeting a man who needed help walking.

“It’s a significant loss, not just for us in the department, but for the hospital. She was family,” Harvey said. “She was this bright ray of light and would help anyone who needed it.”

Rosemary worked at WCA for 25 years.

“I’ve never met someone so kind, so helpful before,” Harvey said. “She was one in a million.”

A candlelight vigil was held Thursday in Sherman in which a couple hundred members of the community gathered to remember Rosemary. Jamie Billquist said he was surprised at the level of support he has received from those who knew her.

“It’s such a great community,” he said. “It’s just amazing. They sang ‘Amazing Grace’ and prayed. It just goes to show you that she meant a lot to many people.”

“She was a definitely a loving person,” he continued. “We always had fun with our friends and family. Her nickname was ‘Peanut.’ That was the name I gave her.”

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