Jerry Rose took a puff off his cigar, looked around the crowded room, made a sweeping gesture with his hand and solemnly pronounced that ”to tell you the truth, I don`t think this family`s quite big enough.” Then he snorted with laughter and pointed to his name tag. ”I used to know everyone up until a few years ago, when things got out of control. Now we need these name tags. When did it get out of control? Oh, I`d say 5 or 10 grandchildren ago.”
Jerry Rose, name tag firmly stuck on, was one of 121 Rose cousins and spouses who gathered in Chicago a couple of Sundays ago for a Christmastime family reunion. They used to get together in one another`s homes (before
”things got out of control”), but now family statistics require a hall, and for this festive get-together they were in the Polish National Alliance hall at Cicero and Peterson Avenues. Three large rooms provided the space they needed.
A clear definition of this reunion is difficult. ”The cousins reunion”
is the easiest way to describe the event, but a more precise breakdown would be among children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren . The count used by the reunion organizers was 71 adults and 50 children, with the children falling into the great-grandchildren category.
”My mother would have just cried from happiness if she could have seen this,” said Lillian Jensen, 55, the ”baby” of the original family unit.
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At the top of the family tree were Lill and Henry Rose.
When they met, she was 18, the hired girl making $3 a week at his grandmother`s Kentucky farm. He was a 33-year-old from the big city, Chicago. ”Henry was a carpenter living in Chicago, but that winter, in 1912, a mill in the (Kentucky) town burned down and he went down to rebuild it,” said Celiann Uhl, one of his daughters. ”He lived at the farm for three weeks and he went bananas over the hired girl. They were married in July.”
Henry took Lill off to live in Chicago. Business and family flourished. He built schools, churches and other buildings and she had 10 children in 17 years. ”Mother wasn`t quite 20 when I was born,” said oldest child Catherine Schorr. ”We sort of grew up together.”
Nine of the 10 children survived, and they all married. Those nine children had 59 grandchildren, who in turn have 65 great-grandchildren. ”And still counting,” said one of the cousins.
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Bill Rose, the oldest son born to Lill and Henry, leaned over and gave his wife, Kay, an affectionate pat on the arm. ”We`ve been married 40 years last April, and I`ll tell you how I met her,” he said. ”It was at a wedding rehearsal, and she had on a fur coat. I figured if she had a fur coat, she had to be pretty well off. I didn`t know it was a second-hand coat; by the time I found out, it was too late. We had started going out, but then Uncle Sam called me and I was in the service 3 1/2 years.”
”He`s still got a piece of shrapnel right here,” Kay said, tracing a mark on Bill`s shoulder. ”The Lord was good; he was all right. And we got engaged right after he got home (from the service).”
”Women work fast, don`t they? Men just don`t have a chance,” Bill said. Bill and Kay have 5 children and 12 grandchildren.
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Betty Rose stood holding a grandchild as Santa Claus entered the hall, lugging a big bag full of toys for all the young Rose (and other assorted names) great-grandchildren. Slim, blond and attractive, looking Christmasey in a bright red jacket, she and Joe Rose had 11 children who now range from 42 to 25. Those 11 include three sets of twins.
”Two sets of boys and one set of girls–seven boys and four girls,” she said, ”and now, 16 grandchildren.” Bob Higgins, one of her sons-in-law
(married to Marianne), passed by with one of the 16 grandchildren in tow.
”It was an amazing thing to come into a family this size . . . and she`s one terrific mother-in-law,” he said.
Betty and Joe, who died three years ago, were the couple getting married when Bill and Kay met. Their relationship underscores the complexity of the Rose family tree: Betty and Kay are sisters and Joe and Bill, brothers.
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”Christmas was always marvelous at home,” said Celiann Uhl, referring to holidays with her parents, Henry and Lill. ”Mother had a deprived childhood, so she would make it very special for us. We all believed in Santa until a very late age. She used to pack us all off to the movies Christmas Eve and then she`d put up the tree and put the presents under it and lock the door. Then we`d have to wait for Dad to come home from work. He`d get down on his hands and knees and look through the keyhole and say, `Oh, I think I see someone in there, with a red suit.` Finally he`d pull out the key and open the door. We`d be unbearably excited by then.”
The family lived in a seven-room house on Mohawk Street on the Near North Side. ”One large room on the third floor–the boys all slept up there–and the second floor was rented out to another family. Then three small bedrooms
(on the first floor), the rest of us scrunched up there,” Celiann said.
”We had a summer home in Arlington Heights on 2 1/2 acres of land. It was all country out there then. Now, where our lawn was, it`s wall-to-wall houses.”
Celiann, generally recognized as the family historian, had 10 children and 5 grandchildren. ”We had a lot of fun growing up, and I wanted a big family too,” she said.
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Chris Higgins, 18, and her sister, Marianne, 13, stood talking to one of their cousins. ”It gets confusing,” Chris said. ”I`m glad people are wearing name tags. But even with the name tags, a lot of people have the same name. Like Mike; there seem to be a few Mikes, and when they have the same last name too, it`s really confusing.”
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The big family picture had just been taken and Peggy Rose Filipowicz, who co-chaired the Christmas reunion with Sharon Rose, was talking to one of her sisters, Barb. They were agreeing that it was their mother, Margaret (married to Paul Rose, one of the original sons), who inspired their branch of the family to work in the medical profession.
”She takes care of people; she`s such a nurturing person,” Barb said. All three daughters (Peggy, Barb and Mary) became nurses. Peggy and Mary married doctors. One of the five sons is a doctor and married a doctor. Another brother is a chemist who married a dietitian.
”It`s definitely Mother; she`s the one who caused this,” Peggy said.
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Henry Rose died in 1964 and Lill Rose died in 1973. They were married 52 years. ”Oh, it was a good marriage, a good marriage,” Celiann said.
None of the original children moved out of the area. The 59 grandchildren live in 10 states, but even so, most still live close to Chicago. ”Most of us stayed around here; we`re pretty close,” Marianne Higgins said. ”I think the family is a factor in staying in the area.”
Before the reunion was over, a vote was taken. Did they want to schedule another reunion, next year? The answer was unanimous. Nov. 30, and there should be even more Roses by then.
The more the merrier. —
