Rose M. Mcdonald

Visitation for Rose Marie McDonald, nee Carey, 89, will be held on Friday, February 26, 2016 from 3:00PM until 8:00PM at the Ahlgrim Family Funeral Home, 201 N. Northwest Hwy., Palatine.  AFuneral Mass will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2016, 10:00AM at St. James Catholic Church, 820 N. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights.  An Interment will follow at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside.

Rose died peacefully at home on Saturday, February 20, 2016 after a long illness. Rose was born on March 28, 1926, in Oak Park, IL to Bert and Irene (nee O’Leary) Carey.

Rose was a beloved wife, mother, nana/great-nana, sister and aunt. She is survived by her 9 children Richard (Pamela), Maureen (Michael) LeVanti, Dennis (Linda), Kevin (Susan), Kathleen (Michael) Holt, Teresa (Richard) Paul, Terrence, Marguerite (Todd) Montgomery and Virginia McDonald; proud nana of 31 grandchildren, Michael (Kristin), Carey (Ryan), Katherine (Chad), Christine (Shawn), Brian, Kelly (Michael), Brian, Megan (Martin), Megan, Maureen, Kara, Bridget, Thomas, Richard (Emily), Patrick, Kelsey, Molly, Kaitlin (Aaron), Griffin, Kelly, Reilly, Mallory, Robert, John, Sean, Delaney, Daniel, Rosemary, Hailey, Abigael and Caroline; cherished great grandmother of 8 great grandchildren, Georgia, Fiona, Payton, Jackson, Eleanora, Julian, Owen and Theodore; treasured friend, Barbara Murry, sisters-in-law Penny and Sue Carey and many loving nieces and nephews also survive her.  Rose was preceded in death by her husband Richard, their infant daughter Mary, her twin sister Irene and her 3 brothers, Bob, Ken (late Marian) and Larry.

She graduated from Rosary College in 1947 and became a teacher.  Rose returned to Rosary in 1974 earning a master’s degree in library science.  She was the head librarian at the Prospect Heights Library.  Later in life, she opened her own real estate school (IDSP), and often joked that she taught most of the real estate agents in the NW suburbs.

Rose lived in Oak Park, LaGrange, Arlington Heights and Palatine before retiring to Apple Canyon Lake, IL.  She collected sunsets, loved to read, and enjoyed her dogs.  She was an inspiring lifelong learner with an insatiable curiosity and an entrepreneurial spirit, but her greatest joy and her enduring legacy was her family.