She was the daughter of the late Robert Newman Haining and Marguerite Elizabeth Hamel of Yazoo City, Mississippi. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Mary Katherine Stricklin, and two of her brothers, Robert and Frank Haining.
Rosemond was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi and graduated from St. Clara Academy in 1946. She moved to Memphis to attend nursing school at St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing, where she graduated in 1949. After nurses training, Rosemond worked at St. Joseph Hospital and then the Veterans Administration Hospital in Memphis. While with the VA she joined the US Army Reserves and was commissioned as a first lieutenant in January 1957.
In Memphis, she met her future husband, William Henry Fuerst, and they were wed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Yazoo City in October 1957. Rosemond and Bill had four sons, Henry (Janet) of Franklin, Tennessee; Robert (Pam) of Huntsville, Alabama; Joseph (Susan) of Independence, Kentucky; and Thomas (Katie) of Dallas, Texas. After her four boys were born, she returned to work at Methodist Hospital South for two years, but then decided to stay home to be with and raise her four sons in the Memphis suburb of Whitehaven.
For 50 years Rosemond and Bill were regular communicants at St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Whitehaven and were both very active in the church community. Rosemond was a founding member of Mother Cabrini Circle, which provides food, clothing, and household goods to needy families in the community. She also served for many years as the Director of St. Paul’s ministry to the sick program, and worked in the parish office and in the grade school day care program. All four sons attended and graduated from St. Paul grade school and Bishop Byrne High School.
Since 2015, Rosemond and Bill resided at Ave Maria Home in Bartlett, TN. The family would like to thank the staff at Ave Maria Home and Crossroads Hospice for the care and compassion they provided, especially in our mother’s final days.
Rosemond is survived by Bill, her husband of 62 years; her brother Joseph Haining; her four sons Henry, Robert, Joseph and Thomas; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
Rosemond will be remembered as a dear friend, devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother, and tremendous example of Christ in her community.
Visitation will begin at 10 am, on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, with a Funeral Mass to follow at 11 am, at St. Paul Catholic Church with burial to follow in Calvary Cemetery. A reception will be held at St. Paul Catholic Church following the cemetery service.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Mother Cabrini Circle at St. Paul Catholic Church or to the St. Paul grade school.
