Rose Mary Elizabeth Springer

Our hearts are broken by the sudden loss of Rose Mary, a dear wife, mother, grandmother and great-great grandmother. Rose Mary Elizabeth Springer was born June 9, 1927 in West Alton, MO. She was one of eight children born to Ida and Anton Mintert. Rose Mary grew up in a farming community and began driving her father’s tractor at 15 yrs. old. She loved animals and even tamed a squirrel but when it started chewing on the keys of their piano, he had to go back outside.

Rose Mary met her future husband Dale, when he partnered with her baling hay. With Rose Mary as the tractor driver, another boy as a blocker and Dale as a tier, the ambitious youngsters soon doubled the average amount of hay baled and earned daily, the weekly equivalent of an adult salary.

The profitable baling business, developed into a close friendship and before they knew it, Rose Mary & Dale made future plans. After Rose Mary’s graduation in 1942, she worked at an Alton garment factory as a seamstress. Their idyllic childhood abruptly changed with the advent of WWII - Dale was drafted into the infantry on Sept. 14, 1944. Rose Mary, like “Rosie the Riveter”, helped in the war effort by assembling bomb rings (packaging containers for large bombs) for the Alton Boxboard Company.

Dale kept a picture of Rose Mary in his wallet during the war, and they wrote letters to each other. Miraculously, Dale returned uninjured from the war in 1945 and they were married on Oct. 4, 1946 in Fort Lewis, Washington. Soon, they became the proud parents of Lonnie Dale Springer on March 24, 1947. Two years later, they were blessed with a baby girl; Kathleen Ann Springer.

In 1950, the Springer family moved on to a new adventure in Anchorage, Alaska - still a territory and the Alaskan highway was a dirt road stretching 1,600 miles. Alaska was a frontier, where grizzly bears sat on the airport runway at Ft. Richardson, and moose would walk the streets and even challenge trains. In 1953, they were nearly evacuated after Mt. Susitna erupted.

While Dale was stationed in Korea, Rose Mary and the children moved back to live with her parents. A new surprise came with the birth of another baby girl; Mary Ann Springer, born April 16, 1961. Dale returned to finally meet his daughter but soon made plans to move to Colorado Springs, CO. In 1964, he retired from the infantry after 20 yrs. of service. Rose Mary and Dale fell in love with Colorado Springs and made it their permanent home for 52 yrs. They owned a family remodeling construction business. Camping and fishing in the mountains were Rosemary & Dale’s favorite past time. To date, they are blessed with: three children, six grandchildren, six great grandchildren, and one great - great grandchild.

A visitation will take place on Friday, February 21, 2014 from 5-7pm at Swan Law Funeral Directors, with a Rosary beginning at 6:00pm. The Mass of the Christian Burial will be on Saturday, February 22, 2014 at 10:00am at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Burial will take place at Ft. Logan National Cemetery on Monday, February 24, 2014 at 1:00pm.