ROSEMARY JACKOWIAK

RoseMary DeCaire was born the tenth of fifteen children to the late Leonard “Bunny” and Florence (Kennedy) DeCaire on March 24, 1944, in Alpena. She attended St. Anne Church and school and graduated from Catholic Central High School. Her early ambition was to be a stewardess then she developed a fear of flying. On August 15, 1969, she married John Jackowiak. She found her true passion when a friend hired her as the activity’s director for Pierce’s Nursing Home. She devoted her energy to the residents and others that suffered with the ravages of Alzheimer’s Disease, for the rest of her life.

RoseMary was very involved in her community through her volunteering with Little League Baseball and high school football as the “ticket lady,” who always had time to chat with all the children. She was inducted into the Alpena Sports Hall of Fame as Female Booster of the Year in 1995.

RoseMary is survived by her husband of 52 years, John, stepchildren Lisa (James) Clearwood, John (Olga) Jackowiak, four siblings, Marie Roznowski, Patrick (Doretta) DeCaire, Suzanne (Fred) Romanak, Janet (John) Pokorney, sisters-in-law, Bernie DeCaire, Judy DeCaire, Kay DeCaire, Barb DeCaire, Barbara Jean DeCaire, numerous nieces and nephews, including special nieces, Annette (Mark) Wade and Anne Timmreck.

RoseMary was preceded in death by, son, Lenny, 10 siblings, James DeCaire, Gerald (Janet) DeCaire, Jack (Joy) DeCaire, Charles DeCaire, Thomas DeCaire, Sally (Alvin) Kieliszewski, Elaine (Robert) Richard, Donald DeCaire, Michael DeCaire, and Joseph DeCaire.

Visitation will take place at the Bannan Funeral Home on Sunday from 2-8 p.m. with a parish prayer service at 7 p.m. Visitation will continue on Monday at St. Anne Church of All Saints Parish from 10 a.m. until the time of the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Tyler Bischoff officiating.

Interment: Holy Cross Cemetery

Memorials: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital