Rosalie A Whyel

Rosalie Ann (Usibelli) Whyel was born in Fairbanks, Alaska on August 5th, 1942 to Rose (Peretti) and Emil Usibelli, their second child after Joe. She grew up in Suntrana (Healy) and attended primary school in a one-room schoolhouse, starting her studies a year early as she would follow brother Joe to school and sit on the steps crying until the teacher brought her lessons to practice on her own, thus starting Rosalie’s joy and passion for learning and education. She attended high school at Lathrop in Fairbanks where she was active on the badminton, shooting, and bowling teams. While in high school she famously began driving her tiny BMW Isetta, and working as a carhop at the local Tic Toc.

After high school Rosalie attended University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and soon met her first husband Joe Abel. Her first child, Baby Boy, sadly passed shortly after birth, and is laid to rest at Birch Hill in Fairbanks. More tragedy came in 1964- the same day as the Great Alaskan earthquake- Rosalie’s father Emil died in a mining accident. It was then that Rosalie and her older brother Joe (Sr.) took over as Vice President and President, respectively, of the Usibelli Coal Mine their father had built in Healy. Rosalie would remain Vice President of UCM until 2008 and serve on the Board of Directors until her passing. With her then-husband Rosalie moved to Juneau where she had Rick, a healthy baby boy who was born the same day the well caved in at their house. While living in Juneau, Rosalie organized a trail-blazing traveling exhibit of Alaskan women artists’ work that toured the state. After a move back to Fairbanks along came daughters Roslyn and Shelley. Rosalie was in her element as a mother, her truest purpose. Raising her children (and dogs, cats, horses, guinea pigs, litters of puppies, etc) was her purest expression of love and deepest enduring joy. It was in her early years of motherhood that Rosalie began to establish a new and exciting hobby, antique doll collecting. She found kindred spirits in local doll clubs and a lifelong passion began. Active volunteering and organizing filled Rosalie’s schedule as well, as she became involved with Quota Club, 1% For Art, American Cancer Society, Pioneers of Alaska, Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, Alaska Visitors Association, International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, and the First Presbyterian Church of Fairbanks, just to name a few. She joked that she was doing so much community fundraising that her friends started to dread her calls. As her young children grew, they joined the community of Harding Lake in Salcha, Alaska with the purchase of a small cabin. This spot would serve as a source of all-season joy and memories for her family for decades, continuing to this day as her grown grandchildren spend frequent summer breaks water skiing and tubing the same lake waters as their parents and grandmother.

While doing business for the coal mine, Rosalie met a handsome and irreverent banker named George Whyel. After a short but certain courtship, George proposed to Rosalie at the Harding Lake cabin, with one caveat that they eventually move out of Alaska. A few months later they were married at the Presbyterian Church with a reception at the Pump House Restaurant, with George’s son Gabe joining the family. Nine months later, daughter Julia arrived. After several years spent together in Fairbanks George and Rosalie began looking for a new place to call home. They decided on the beautiful Pacific Northwest town of Bellevue, Washington. An older home on Lake Washington with a view of the sunset and an English garden that Rosalie had wanted all her life. They packed up their things, Shelley and Julia, two dogs, and many, many dolls, and began a new chapter. Rosalie’s mother and stepfather Rose and Dick Berry also made the move down to Bellevue at the same time. It was with this new move that George began encouraging Rosalie to create a museum of her doll collection. An idea was born and with much nurturing and help of family and friends the world-renowned Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art was opened to the public in 1992 in downtown Bellevue. As with everything she touched, she immersed herself in this business, elevating it beyond what anyone could have imagined.

Her first of eight grandchildren was soon born and her (possibly favorite) role as Grandma began. Her growing family was one of many reasons for her to keep a busy travel schedule, and she and George spent increasing time through the decades visiting their children and grandchildren and exploring Europe, especially gravitating to Rosalie’s ancestral homeland of Italy. The family also spent much time on the Big Island of Hawaii which became a favorite spot. George and Rosalie shared memorable trips to Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan with George’s volunteer commitments and to visit son Gabe.

To share her extensive knowledge of antique dolls Rosie authored three books, the Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art Souvenir Book, The Rose Unfolds, and The Heart of the Tree. She and museum co-director and daughter Shelley were active members of many local and national doll clubs of which they were active participants, dealers, and presenters at monthly meetings and annual conventions. At the museum the two kept very busy with an ongoing schedule of changing exhibits, deepening knowledge and teaching of doll history, and Rosalie’s favorite part: playing with dolls.

Rosie was selected to be on the new building committee at the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue (now Bellevue Presbyterian Church) which began a significant expansion to their campus and services. Her ever-reaching philanthropy for the arts, education, and mission service continued and she was a proud Founding Member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C.

Over the years the museum received many awards, most notably Best Private Doll Museum Worldwide, also known as the Jumeau Award. She and friend and fellow doll collector Ellie Kringer organized two doll tours through Europe, leading groups of enthusiastic collectors to museums, historic sites, cultural events, gardens, and so much more. When she wasn’t busy playing dolls, traveling, being a mother and grandmother, tending her garden, snuggling her many faithful dogs, and re-watching episodes of the Golden Girls; Rosalie was in her kitchen, cooking, baking, tasting, and dancing. Her love of preparing and enjoying food with her family inspired many delicious meals at tables set to the nines, always peaking with her annual elaborate Christmas dinner celebration each year in her Bellevue home.

In 2012 Shelley and Rosalie closed the museum, and began a new business flipping houses in the Bellevue area. Rosalie was never shy about hard work, she was likely to be found at the top of a ladder into her senior years. She kept a schedule that exhausted most and inspired many, always repeating her life lesson to “do what you love” as she picked up a new creative project or planned a new adventure. In 2013 Rosalie championed the sale of the doll museum building to KidsQuest Children’s Museum for their expansion. Rosalie and George continued to travel together visiting family, enjoying time in Hawaii, Saint Helena, CA, and Alaska; and Rosie accompanied George on many hiking and cycling trips nationally and abroad. Always an artist at heart, Rosie’s creative practice especially thrived during her later years, continuing to write poetry and paint watercolors and sharing with her family as she had always loved. She kept her humor even through the toughest times, and taught her family that there were very few challenges that couldn’t be slightly improved with a joke and a laugh.

After a short but aggressive battle with Lymphoma, Rosalie passed peacefully on February 13, 2023, in her home in Bellevue, watching the lake, with family at her side.

Rosalie saw beauty and possibility in everything. Her legacy is the love, support, and unconditional encouragement she gave her family. She is survived by her husband George, children Rick (Missy), Roslyn (Gary), Gabe (Angie), Shelley (Eric), and Julia (Mike); grandchildren RJ, Shelby, Kasey, Alec, Evelyn, Luca, Sophia, and Genevieve; and cocker spaniel Camille.

A memorial for Rosalie will take place on Friday March 10th, 2023 at 1PM at Bellevue Presbyterian Church, 1717 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004.

The family asks that gifts in Rosalie’s memory be made to the United Federation of Doll Clubs (ufdc.org), KidsQuest Children’s Museum (kidsquestmuseum.org), or the American Cancer Society (cancer.org).