Rosemary McAllister

Rosemary McAllister, 94, of Cape Girardeau passed away Thursday, July 15, 2021, at Lutheran Home.

She was born July 6, 1927, in York, Nebraska, the daughter of Ray and Eva Gudgel Conrad. She was raised in York and graduated from York High School.

Rosemary married her high school sweetheart, Rupert Duane McAllister, on Sept. 14, 1944. He passed away in 2015, just after celebrating their 70th anniversary. Together with their children, they traveled for 30 years as a military family with tours in Japan, England and many places in between.

Through these years she volunteered as den mother for her sons, David and Richard, and as a Girl Scout leader for her daughter, Debra, and in military hospitals. She was a lifetime member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary No. 3838.

In 1974, they retired to Estes Park, Colorado, enjoying 20 years of Rocky Mountain splendor. They opened the Yarn and Needle Shop, designing counted cross stitch patterns of mountain scenes, flowers and birds of the Rockies. In 1993, they had to leave the mountains for a lower altitude and relocated closer to family. They settled in Cape Girardeau near their son, David, and volunteered many years at Southeast Hospital. Rosemary loved to be busy with new artistic projects and blessed family, friends and community with her scrap booking, birthday cards, hundreds of hand-knitted caps for newborns and homeless families, blankets for veterans and prayer shawls.

Rosemary was an avid reader and loved to tell stories. She tried to live out Erma Bombeck's saying, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'"

Survivors include a brother, Walter Conrad of Florida; three children, David (Larue) McAllister of Cape Girardeau, Richard (Brenda) McAllister of Payson, Arizona, and Debra (Robert) Gerling of Guthrie, Oklahoma; 11 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

Rosemary was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Duane McAllister; and a sister, Frances Conrad.

Visitation will be 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, July 17, at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Funeral service will follow at 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home, led by the Rev. Rodney Pensel of United Church of Christ. Internment will be at Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be given to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Online condolences may be made at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com.