She attended one year of college in Milwaukee before her father decided to move the family to Ponce, Puerto Rico. Rose completed her undergraduate work at The Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry. She went on to obtain a Masters Degree in Medical Technology from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Returning to Puerto Rico, she worked for a private laboratory in Mayaguez until she decided to enter the public health field.
On August 27, 1960, she married the love of her life, Jose N. Irizarry in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and they had four children. The family moved to San German, Puerto Rico where Rose became the lab director of Hospital La Concepcion, a position she held for 11 years.
In 1977, Jose decided to move the family out of Puerto Rico and to the States. Because of the cold weather, Rose did not want to live as far north as Milwaukee, and she preferred not to live in New York City. Through the influence of a family member, they decided to try Texas and chose Austin to settle in.
In 1978 she joined the Texas Air Control Board (now known as the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission) where she worked as a lab technician. She promoted to Engineering Technician in the laboratory in 1980. She was again promoted in 1982 to Environmental Quality Specialist. She retired from this agency in May of 2000.
While a member of Allandale Baptist Church, she developed a love for sign language and was so impressed with the church’s efforts to reach the hearing impaired that she began taking courses in sign language and became a deaf interpreter for the church.
She later became a founding member of Iglesia Bautista Principe de Paz where she worked as the children’s Sunday School teacher, as treasurer and as co-director of the Food Pantry Ministry for many years.
Although not a native Puerto Rican, she considered herself Puerto Rican and loved everything about Puerto Rico. She enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren telling them stories of life in Milwaukee and Puerto Rico.
She was preceded in death by her brothers Tommy and Frank Labatte, Anthony Massanet and by her husband Jose N. Irizarry. She is survived by her four children, Rose Enid, Nadya Marie, Jose Noel and wife Donna, and Jenny Amor and husband Juan; her nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the Children's Ministry at Principe de Paz Baptist Church, 1204 Payton Gin Road, Austin, Texas 78758.
