Rosamond Marie Burns (Gillespie)

Rosamond was born December 21, 1930 in Port Jefferson, Long Island, New York, but lived in both Saint James and Stony Brook. Despite living through the Great Depression years, she had many fond memories of a rich childhood when the area was still quite rural. Rosamond shared stories such as helping her mother make ends meet by selling their homemade baked goods to neighbors from her little red wagon and help-ing her fisherman grandfather sell bait at his roadside stand. Sunday dinners were often at her grandparents’ small home where many of their nine children and families would gather for German food and homemade ice cream, in a home typical for the time with no plumbing other than a pitcher water pump in the kitchen. Raised in a religious family, including a grandfather who preached in the Bowery of New York City, Rosamond con-verted to Catholicism in high school. She had many good friends and was proud of be-ing the valedictorian of her school in St. James. Rosamond loved Long Island and al-ways called it home.

Rosamond headed off to college in 1949 to SUNY Fredonia with two other good friends on the recommendation of one of her music teachers, one of whom wrote the song “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” which they sang in school before it was even published. Attendance was tuition-free and she could take the train right into Dunkirk. Rosamond recollected that there was even an entire train car just for Long Island students. Rosamond kept herself busy with many extracurricular activities and helped earn some money towards room and board by getting paid to play records in the dining hall. She graduated in 1953 with a degree in elementary education and a minor in music (voice). She later earned her master’s degree from Fredonia and worked on her doctorate in later years at the University of Buffalo. Rosamond recently attended her 70th reunion last October, the only member of her graduating class.

Although Rosamond met her husband-to-be just three months before graduation, she headed back to Long Island to begin her teaching career. During this time, she took voice lessons in New York City by the same instructor of the famed writer and actress Cornelia Otis Skinner, who was Rosamond’s mentor, whom she knew through her son, an elementary classmate and friend. Rosamond’s talent for singing landed her an audition with Rogers and Hammerstein at the Shubert Theater in NYC. Having the same experience as described by all the great talent of the time, singing under a bare lightbulb into the dark, a voice asked her what she wanted to do. Rather than the expected re-sponse for show-biz, she said, “I’m a teacher and I’m getting married in three months.” This landed her a different role that took her back to Western NY.

Rosamond had five children and when they were of school age, she taught many years at Brocton Central School as a first grade teacher and reading specialist. Always active, one endeavor included being the president of the county’s reading association, at which time she was invited to speak at the International Reading Convention related to her research and writing “Parents, Pre-Reading, and the Pre-Schooler.” Other activi-ties included singing live on the local radio station, leading the Bishop’s Committee (Catholic group of mothers would meet to discuss child rearing), the D & F Chorus, Chautauqua Institute Chorus, and participation in musical shows such as the High Fe-ver Follies for several years. Co-writing, organizing, and participating in a county-wide vaudeville-type show in 1979 called “Hooray for Hollywood,” this was an impetus of the eventual renovation of Fredonia’s Opera House. With her lifelong love of music, she in-troduced her children to the performing arts, including the singer Maureen McGovern, first known for her hit record “The Morning After” when she appeared at Rusch’s Restaurant in Dunkirk. This became a decades long friendly acquaintance, and Rosamond was thrilled when Maureen recently called and sang happy birthday wishes to her on her 93rd birthday. In later years she also taught school in Florida, one of which where she was recognized as Teacher of the Year. Well into her eighties, Rosamond would say how much she loved teaching little ones and would go back to the classroom if she could. Rosamond authored the weekly newspaper column “Yesterdays and Todays” for several years in the Observer and co-authored a book called “My Dear Jen” based on letters her father wrote to her mother from the trenches of Europe doing Word War I. Recently, Rosamond was working on her autobiography and a project of SUNY Fre-donia graduates of her era to record their memories of college life, capturing this differ-ent time while still able to do so. An example of herself and another classmate is posted on YouTube at “SUNY Fredonia Alumni Memories.”

In her elder years, she looked back fondly on all her experiences and by-gone friends with an optimistic attitude and considered each new day a blessing, with a family she dearly loved. This was particularly evident at a large family picnic this past summer. A short time after her nightly prayers to the Blessed Mother and near minutes of the time of her passing, her peaceful last words were, “I love you too.”

Survivors include her five children: George Burns III, of Fredonia and West Vir-ginia, Christopher Burns (Margaret), of California, Timothy Burns, of Florida, Mary Burns-Deas (Mark), of Fredonia, and William (Margaret), also of Fredonia; along with 13 grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

She is predeceased by: her former husband, George H. Burns Jr., mother, Jennie Schumacher Gillespie, brother Donald Gillespie and sister Jane Gillespie Stevens.

Friends and family may visit at the LARSON- TIMKO Funeral Home, 20 Central Ave., Fredonia from 4-7 PM on Friday, January 12. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 328 Washington Ave. in Dunkirk on Saturday, January 13, at 12 noon.

On-line condolences may be made at larsontim-kofuneralhome.com.

Arrangements by David J. Dengler.