Rose “Rosie” M. Schubert (nee De Piro) age 96 a sixty-two year resident of Pompton Lakes passed peacefully on Monday, December 8, 2014.

She was born at the family residence at 283 East 149th Street in the Bronx, New York to Italian immigrant parents on May 6, 1918. She lived in New York City and Lyndhurst, New Jersey before moving to Pompton Lakes in 1952. She attended kindergarten through 8th grade at PS 3 in the Bronx, spent six months in Morris High School in the Bronx and then two years at the Bronx Vocational High School where she earned her secretarial degree.

During her younger years Rose lived in the top floor apartment on 159th Street in the Bronx. Her maiden name was Rosina DePiro but everyone knew her as Rose. She grew up near Yankee Stadium and Dauby’s Steakhouse where she was able to see Yankee greats like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio. It was a fun childhood living under the “L.” She met her future husband, Russell there. They wrote letters to each other while he was in Europe fighting during WW ll and when he returned they started dating. They were married on July 6th, 1946. They were to marry at the family home on 153rd Street in the Bronx, but when the priest found out Russell was not Catholic he refused to marry them. A priest in Connecticut agreed to perform the ceremony and they drove to Connecticut, married, and drove back to the Bronx for the reception at the family home.

They bought their first house in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey in 1951 and although it frequently flooded, making life difficult, they lived there for most of their lives raising four children Lorraine, Russell, Debra and Ronald. Though times were tough and money was tight, Rose always had a dime or a quarter to give her kids for a treat like ice cream or a cherry coke from the Milk Barn. They didn’t realize at the time that she was depriving herself to make sure her family had the little extras kids look forward to. Even after her children grew up and moved out they often got together for Sunday family dinners at MOM’s. Her family was always her first priority. After raising her four children she worked for the Pompton Lakes Board of Education both in the cafeteria and supervising the children on the playground. She enjoyed this work very much. Rose is best described as a person with a great attitude, and a wonderful ability to make and maintain lifelong friendships. Her dedication to her children is really a defining quality. She never went to college, she never held a high powered job and she never drove a car; but she played her role as wife and mother to perfection. The focus of her life was her family’s wellbeing. Whether it was just wiping noses, putting Vicks on their chests when they had a cold, putting mustard plaster on to ease the pain of Poison Ivy, holding their hands when they got stitches, sitting at the bedside for surgeries or just offering a shoulder after a fight with a boyfriend or girlfriend she was always there. That is how she lived her entire life, never asking for anything for herself but always ready to help her family or friends. She was always there for them, willing to listen, give support, waiting up at night for them to come home, and making sacrifices all along the way to help their lives to be a little better. Whenever anyone needed something she knew and she responded. She loved being a mom and made it look easy and effortless.

All she asked for was to have her family by her side especially in the more difficult later years. When she could no longer live independently she began living with her children moving from home to home spending a month at a time with each one. She was a voracious reader. Her favorite books were Harlequin Romances and she would frequently finish a book in a day. Her family believes that is what kept her mind razor sharp right to the end. Rose enjoyed crafts, and her dogs Friskie, Muffin, Ginger and Taffy who held a special place in her heart. The family has many fond memories of time spent at Cold Spring Lake in Bloomingdale – although they didn’t have fond memories of the thirteen steps to the outhouse there. Tragedy struck in 1964 when a natural gas explosion inside the home burned their house down. The children remember shoveling snow to try and put out the fire. They rebuilt the house and continued to raise their family there.

One of the fondest memories of her later times was seeing her sitting in a special chair (that she had at each of her children’s houses) and reading throughout the day. When she moved into a local assisted living facility the staff and other residents grew to love her immediately and many of the residents, who were only a few years younger called her MOM. Even the staff frequently referred to her as MOM. She had her wish to have her loving family around her for the difficult times at the end of her life. When she was ready to move on and transition to the afterlife she raised her hands and called out for her departed sister Ida who was surely there helping to make her crossing easier and taking her to the front of the line because that is what she deserved. In the full circle of life she left on her only granddaughter Skylar’s 14th birthday completing the cycle. The heavens opened to allow her entrance and although the family lost an AMAZING person God has gained a MOM.

She was the loving wife of fifty-nine years to the late Russell Schubert (2005); devoted mother of Lorraine Schubert and her husband John McAuley of Jupiter, Florida, Russell F. Schubert and his wife Irene of Wayne, Debra Troast and her husband Brian of Bloomingdale, Ronald Schubert and his wife Veronica of Bloomingdale; cherished grandmother of Skylar Rose Schubert and Cole Schubert; Rose was the sixth born of nine children and has one surviving sister Lillian DePiro of Secaucus. She was predeceased by seven siblings.

Those inclined to make a memorial donation in Rose’s name are asked to consider the Wayne Memorial First Aid Squad, PO Box 2004, Wayne, NJ 07474.