Rosa Marie, Olmo, 89, of Memphis, TN, went home to the Lord on February 21, 2019. Rosa was born on January 25, 1930 in Memphis, Tennessee. Rosa graduated from Whitehaven High School. A devout Catholic, she attended St. John’s Catholic Church for many years before moving to the Fox Meadows area in 1979 and becoming an active member of the Church of the Resurrection.
She was employed for many years by F.W> Woolworth Co. Woolworths had the first five-and-dime stores, and it was one of the first American retailers to put merchandise out for shoppers to handle and select merchandise without the help of a sales clerk. One of Rosa’s first jobs with the company was a window dresser setting up and designing window displays at the stores. She would be sent to the new Woolworth stores across the territory to do the window displays for each store. She spent most of her career at the Woolworth in Southland Mall. One of her favorite stories was about the time Elvis Presley came to the store to buy rugs. He scattered rugs all over the floor until he found the one he liked, leaving the employees to restack the scattered rugs after he left. She also recalled the time that Red Skelton visited the store.
Rosa and her sister Josephine loved traveling on senior bus tours and visiting casinos after their retirements. Rosa said that she believed they visited all but seven states. One of Rosa’s fondest memories was her Perillo Tours trip to Italy with her sister Josephine, nephew Charlie and niece Barbara. Before joining the tour in Milan Josephine and Rosa were met by the maternal cousins from Valenza, Italy at the Milan airport. They had the opportunity to spend a few days with the family in Valenza before starting their tour of Italy.
Rosa was preceded in death by her parents, Emilio Olmo and Maria Ferrias Olmo; her sister, Josephine Olmo, her sister-in-law, Fannie Thompson Olmo (Joe); and nephew Robert Olmo (Brenda).
She leaves her brother, Charlie Joseph Olmo, Sr., Nephew Charlie Joseph Olmo, Jr. (Barbara); cousin Guiseppe Ferrias of Valenza, Italy; and four generations of nephews and nieces.
The family will receive friends from 5 until 7 on Wednesday February 27, 2019 at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Ave. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at Church of the Resurrection on Thursday February 28, 2019 at 10:30 A.M.; with interment to follow at Calvary Cemetery.
