As city historian for the city of Dunkirk and past president of the Historical Society of Dunkirk, I would like to acknowledge the recent passing of Patricia Rosing.

Pat served as board member for the Dunkirk Historical Museum for many years and worked also as our “clerk/receptionist.” When I first got involved with the museum in 2007, she was the first person I met there, and I came to know her for being so very dedicated to the museum. She served as an officer as well, as secretary and as vice president.

She often would be the only person in the museum “manning” the building (as other board members worked), locking and unlocking the doors every work day, greeting people, handling the mail, answering the phones, dealing with incoming donations, and all the minutiae of the museum’s daily workings. She would be the person who would handle the tours of the building, always holding the phone’s hand set in her hand as she walked around with visitors in case the phone rang in the middle of the tour and she needed to answer it.

I came to be involved with the museum when I wrote the book “Dunkirk” published by the Arcadia Publishing Co. I was on a deadline and was at the museum almost every day that it was open for several months. Pat was the person who assisted me the most. If I had a question or if a name of a person or building or street came up in my research, all I had to do was ask it aloud and she would give an answer of some sort or at least point me to where I would find some information about it. She would go to a drawer or shelf and pull out a folder or book for me to check. It was her building in so many ways.

At one point in the life of the museum, the museum’s budget from the city had been severely cut and we had to cut down on all costs so we lowered the heat in the building through the winter. The temperature inside often stood at 55 degrees, and Pat good naturedly endured that, sitting at her desk with her coat on as she worked and we chatted.

She was fond of the opera and was a constant attendee of the Opera at Chautauqua in the summer and the opera broadcasts at the Opera House in Fredonia. She talked about her two daughters, telling me plans about visits from the one in Vermont or their trips there. She talked about her late husband and their store, Rosing’s, that stood on Fourth Street in Dunkirk for many years until urban renewal brought it to an end. That store was her connection to the city’s history, to its heyday when the streets were filled with stores she remembered.

When my then 23-year-old nephew Alex worked for us inputting information into our new museum software program, the two of them got along well, both sitting in the cold in the “office.” my nephew with scarf and gloves on, gloves with holes cut out for the fingers so his hands would be warm while typing. Pat thus called him “Bob Cratchit,” the fictional character from the Dickens story, because to her she resembled how he might look. Pat became fond of another volunteer at the museum, Denise. The two of them worked together to assist the museum carrying out its mission.

When I served as president of the Historical Society and asked for help, Pat and Denise would often go to various outdoor events the museum attended, the fairs and festivals where we set up a booth to greet visitors and encourage membership. Pat knew Bob Harris, late city historian, and supported his efforts to keep the museum going. She appreciated Roy Davis and Roger Schulenberg, who ran the railroad display. She served on the board with Larry Perdue for many years and later his wife Sharon, as well as “Coach” Muscato and so many others. I’m sure Walt Drag and George Dorman and Pete Komada have food memories of her.

She was always there to help out–despite her advanced age even at that time. In the winter during a snowfall I would offer to bring her to the museum and take her home and at times followed her home in my car to be sure she got there. But she rarely missed a day at her job.

Every year she assisted to the railroad display at the fairgrounds to sit in the hot boxcar greeting visitors. She was dedicated like that. I know she was equally so at the Fredonia Opera House, where she served as ticket taker for many years.

It is important to acknowledge people who do that might seem to be the “little things” within an organization. But taken together these little things are so very important, these daily tasks that no one else might do but which allows the organization to function. I know Pat’s daughters will miss her and I will too, as will the others in the Historical Society who worked with her during her many years of dedicated service to Dunkirk’s history.

May you rest in peace, Pat.

Diane Andrasik is city of Dunkirk historian.