Rosemary Quatmann

Rosemary Blanton Barr Quatmann, 92, of Cape Girardeau passed away peacefully Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012, at Chateau Girardeau.

She was predeceased by her parents, Harry C. and Maureen Blanton; a sister, Maureen Klein Graham; first husband, Harry K. Barr, who died March 21, 1979; second husband, Joseph H. Quatmann, who she married May 19, 1990, and who died Jan. 15, 2000; a son, Michael Blanton Barr; and a stepdaughter, Sister Vicki Quatmann.

Rosemary will be lovingly remembered and dearly missed by her surviving eight children, Harry K. Barr III of Interlaken, N.J., Ann L. McEvoy of Vero Beach, Fla., Maureen A. Passerini of Mountain Lakes, N.J., John M. Barr of Mountain Lakes, Kevin J. Barr of Bethesda, Md., Thomas R. Barr of Springfield, Mo., Rosemary Sullivan of Town and Country, Mo., Lewis D. Barr of Portland, Ore., and their spouses.

Also six stepchildren, Toni Walters, Jim Quatmann, Bob Quatmann, Ted Quatmann, Larry Quatmann and Cathi Stoverink; six brothers and sisters, Patricia Kavanaugh, John Blanton, Dr. Joseph Blanton, Federal Magistrate Judge Lewis Blanton, Harry Blanton, Anne Tlapek, and their spouses; 19 grandchildren; 16 stepgrandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; 26 great-stepgrandchildren; many nieces and nephews.

Rosemary was born Dec. 10, 1919, in St. Louis. She graduated from Maryville College of the Sacred Heart (now Maryville University of St. Louis) in 1942.

She initially raised her family in Merrick, Long Island, N.Y., before moving to Sikeston, Mo. A local newspaper, Merrick Life, selected her as Mother of the Year in 1961. Among other laudatory comments, the newspaper noted that vivacious Rosemary Barr is chief cook and bottle washer, not to mention hostess, chauffeur and confidant for a family that includes a husband, nine children, a dog and a canary.

Her children say she always looks pretty and Rosemary states that she lives each day as it comes. Even with nine children, she made time for an amazing number of outside civic activities. Hobbies? None, she laughs; just children, what better. In Sikeston, Rosemary was an English teacher 10 years at the public middle school, and served 25 years as a Pink Lady at Missouri Delta Hospital.

She was a member of St. Francis Xavier Parish and the Legion of Mary and Daughters of Isabella, a charitable organization of Catholic women. She and husband Joseph Quatmann lived 10 happy years in Cape Girardeau, traveled extensively and enjoyed being with family and friends.

Visiting hours are 5 to 8 p.m. today, with the rosary to be recited at 7 p.m. at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel, 205 N. Stoddard St., Sikeston, MO 63801, 573-471-2242.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a funeral Mass for Rosemary at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Francis Xavier Parish Center, 245 West Front St. in Sikeston. Interment will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery on Murray Lane in Sikeston.