Rosemarie G Doyle

Rosemarie Gertrude Doyle, (nee Klosky), age 97, of East Chicago, passed away October 12, 2023, at her residence in Chesterton, IN. She was born in 1926 and raised with her older brother Clarence by their parents, Joseph and Esther Klosky, across the street from the mill at Inland Steel, in the now vanished enclave of Marktown, in East Chicago Indiana. Joseph taught Rosemarie the enduring value of an education. Born in Poland and raised in Chicago, was an early graduate of Marquette University, then an instructor of Morse Code at Harvard University during WWI, he declined a professorship at the University of Texas, to marry Esther and raise a family closer to her roots. Esther taught Rosemarie to stand steadfast in the face of frightful odds. As a seven-year-old, Esther approached her estranged father, an owner of several taverns on Chicago’s south side, for money for her First Communion. Thrown to the street, she camped there and approached his patrons until she accumulated enough for her dress. Rosemarie attended St Patrick’s school in Indiana Harbor, where the ubiquity of Irish families left her convinced for many years that she herself was Irish. But those young men there caught her eye early on, as she went on to assume an Irish surname three times, to the utter astonishment of her Polish father. Attending Catholic Central High School (now Bishop Noll) in East Chicago, her academic prowess afforded her a full-ride academic scholarship to St Mary’s College, sister college at the time of the University of Notre Dame. She declined, and entered instead nurse’s training in the last class of St Catherine’s Hospital. She was capped, pinned, and became a registered nurse in 1947, marrying George R. McGuan the following year, from that same St Patrick’s school. They began their family while George finished the undergraduate study he had started before the war, at St Joseph College in Rensselaer, IN. Accustomed to eating well, but absent the culinary skills to support the habit, she learned to cook while living in their one-room apartment above the jail, pregnant with their first, and working now as a nurse. They left there for Notre Dame, while George attended law school, while continuing work as a nurse. It was there that Rosemarie developed her life-long love for Fighting Irish Football and avocado, introduced to her by none other than the grandchild of the legendary Knute Rockne. As George’s work led her from South Bend to Michigan’s upper peninsula, back to Northwest Indiana then to Chicago’s south side, and finally back again to Northwest Indiana. She continued work as a nurse while raising their five children, hers sometimes the only predictable income. Yet her children were each educated in private schools and attended college, certain to exhibit good manners, wear clean clothes and eat good food. (Those skills were catching up.) She was never to be found without immaculate grooming, a brilliant smile, fashionable attire, and a good perm. Never flashy, just classy. As a mother, she taught her children that they could endure any hardship, bear any burden, and suffer any indignity with courage and grace. She could forgive any insult, harbor no grievance, and expected the same from others. And though she would often in a social setting amuse a tablemate with “If you have nothing kind to say about someone…. come sit next to me!” it was a ruse meant simply to put someone at ease. She would not abide gossip of any sort. Quite to the contrary, she was the first to find that thing about people that made them feel special, and was not afraid to embarrass them in declaring it, an ability surpassed only by an inexhaustible ability to forget any unpleasant memories of those loved. She was quick to spot the person at the party who suffered some indignity or humiliation, and offer the comfort of a confederate who understood and could share the feeling. . As a young nurse, she finally learned to make a bed. (similar to that cooking). She also learned the painful lessons. One morning in the ER, a Chicago cop brought in a young mother who child was suffering terribly, impossible to comfort. Rosemarie was understandably distraught herself, knowing her five kids were waiting excitedly for her to return home that Easter morning. The cop pulled her aside, and told her, as kindly but firmly as possible, “You wanna fall apart, that’s fine, but you can NEVER let the patient see you like that. Take it someplace else.” A Chicago cop would know. She never lost her composure, was sure in a crisis--- useful as a nurse (but was indispensable as a mother.) After 9 months at her next hospital, Methodist in Gary, IN, she was made head nurse of a surgical unit, which she led for 26 years. Nearing retirement, she volunteered to be trained at the renowned Cleveland Clinic as an enterostomal therapist, training other OTs, patients, and their families in the care of especially challenging wounds, conducting twice weekly sessions at night, all on her own volunteer time. The example she set for those in her charge led many of them to pursue advanced degrees, seek greater responsibilities, or simply become damned fine nurses. Widowed the first time in 1972, she continued nursing, where she met a patient who became her second husband, Victor Gough, from Gary…. Another Irishman. From a family of eleven, he introduced her to the concept of a truly extended family. She fit in immediately with the ease of a woman sure of herself, able and willing to accept anyone she engaged, wherever they were, wherever they came from. With kids now grown and out of the house, they drank life to the lees, traveling at the drop of a hat, and enjoying for 14 years the freedom they had rightly earned. Widowed once again in 1988, she continued to finish out her career, then taking a side hustle at a clothing store, availing herself of the discounts…. fashion must be fed. Free to expand her travel now beyond the boundaries of the Midwest, and indeed both oceans, she was able to indulge her passion for good food (fresh croissants and omelets on the Champs Elysée’s, white tie dinner at the Officer’s mess in Paris), music (42nd Street musical at London’s Covent Garden) and the unmatched greenery of Maui. At a grade school reunion, she met another Irishman (perhaps she never did realize she was Polish), from that same St Patrick’s school. She married Jack Doyle at age 78, when they continued to travel, though on a shorter tether now, and doted on each other until she was widowed once more in 2020. She had outlasted them all! Her wit remained keen, working the daily crossword and never missing Jeopardy. But her humor was never far behind, and it would always catch people off guard, because she could never take herself too seriously. As a 96-year-old patient, when asked to confirm her name before having medications administered, she would dead-pan “Joan Crawford” or someone similarly once-famous, obscure perhaps to the unfamiliar, but hilarious to those who could follow. She made you work for it Towards the end, she remained sharp as ever, and she still enjoyed eating a good meal, even if even some found its way to her still fashionable sweater….and the perm, always the perm. She delighted the care staff with wit, charm, and genuine warmth. Her fellow residents rallied around to protect her from any inconvenience or distress. She leaves behind a legacy of a loving, welcoming, deeply passionate, totally engaging family, and refused until the end to accept any responsibility for it whatsoever. She showed us each…. the truly big deals, NEVER think they are big deals. Rosemarie was preceded in death by her three husbands and her brother Clarence Klosky, and is survived by children George (Mary Ann), Margaret Sangerman (Michael), Bernard (Susan), Paul (Diana), Joseph (Kathryn), by 18 grandchildren, and by 18 great grandchildren. Visitation and Rosary service for Rosemarie will be Tuesday, October 17, 2023, from 3-7:00 p.m. at Burns Funeral Home, 10101 Broadway, Crown Point, IN 46307. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at 9:00 a.m., starting with prayers at 8:15 at Burns (Crown Point) and then proceeding to St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 321 East Joliet Street, Crown Point, IN, Fr. Kevin Huber officiating. Interment at Calvary Cemetery, Portage, IN. Memorials may be given to Dunes Hospice, Valparaiso IN. The family of Rosemarie wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the care staff at Coffee Creek, Dunes Hospice, and First Light, the parishioners at St Mary of the Lake, and to the compassionate fellow residents at Coffee Creek. www.burnsfuneral.com.

Rosemarie G Doyle

July 2, 1926 - October 12, 2023