She was put on hospice in early February of this year and waited patiently until death took her on February 23, 2021. It was probably one of the few times in her life, and the only time to my knowledge, that Rose Prihar waited patiently for someone else to do anything while she was around.
She was many things: philanthropist, world traveler, art historian, collector of antiquities, master gardener, senior IRS tax auditor, keeper of pheasants and peacocks, and big slobbery Saint Bernards, brick layer (while in her 70’s!!) and God knows what else. But at her core, she was simply, a “doer”. As many who read this could probably attest, she was not afraid to ask for help and, once hooked, she had zero qualms about putting you to work. In fact, I may have misstated, “asking for help”. I don’t recall ever being asked for help it was more akin to “notified”. But she was never one to sit on the sidelines away from the action. If something needed to be done, she was going to figure out a way to do it.
Case in point, several years ago, the facility where she lived was having new siding installed. As part of that project, when the contractors removed the old siding, they had to take down the railings on all the balconies. Once the railings were removed, the residents were told that they could not go out on the balconies. Rose had plants on the balconies and the plants needed to be watered. Rose went out on the balcony and watered her plants. Someone ratted her out, so the contractor came in and taped her door shut. Rose removed the tape and went out on the balcony and watered her plants. She got busted again so the contractors came back and put a long screw in between the door and the jamb with washers on both sides and screwed it tight so that the door was wedged shut. Rose went to Fred Meyer, bought herself a screwdriver (and a few other tools just in case) came home, got up on her little step stool so she could reach the screw and worked until she got that screw undone and went out on the balcony and watered her plants. The contractors were not pleased and had to install a new keyed lockset set on her door, with the keyhole on the inside so she could not unlock it. When I saw that, I pictured her softly and sweetly talking to some poor kid in the hardware department at Fred Meyer and saying, “ Well, if you don’t sell lockpicks, where would I be able to find them?” I have no evidence to show that this actually occurred but I believe, with all my heart, that it did.
However, tormenting unwary contractors was not an actual hobby. For most of her life she, along with her sister, Wilma, collected. They collected dolls, ivory, porcelain, paintings, furniture, books, curios and vintage clothing. If you talked to Rose about any of these collections, she would quickly tell you that she was not an expert in any of it and they just collected things that appealed to them. That statement was, as typical of Rose, humble and unassuming. It was also dead wrong. It may have been a function of her years with the IRS but she could do research like nobody’s business. She became an expert in anything and everything, she took an interest in. She was one smart cookie.
If there was anything more extensive than her collections, it was her notion of service and community involvement. She had volunteered at St Vincent DePaul for well over 20 years. She volunteered, along with her sister, at the Albertina Kerr Center. She was one of the founding members of the Pittock Mansion Society. If you have a chance to visit there, look for a plaque in the lower floor with Rose and Wilma’s name on it. She started, hosted and primarily funded their neighborhood Fourth of July block party. The list of other charities that she financially supported is eye popping. But far and away, the coolest, charity event ever was the Prihar sister’s fashion shows. As mentioned, the two sisters collected vintage clothing. They had pieces starting in the late 1800’s and for every decade of the 20th century through the 1960’s. Somewhere in the 80’s, they got the idea that they would have benefit fashion shows. They did them for schools and churches and various non-profits. They supplied the clothes and often refreshments and they would gather the models from family, friends and volunteers from whomever they were helping. The entity would sell tickets and would keep 100% of the profits. I remember my daughter was a model in some of them. (and she never broke anything) I helped in quite a few. (I was never a model and may have broken a thing or two) But the best part about it was just seeing the excitement and joy of my aunts. They liked showing the clothes but they loved the fact that by doing so they were helping someone.
Clearly, of all the possessions, Rose had, the most cherished were the relationships with friends and family. I don’t know how many weddings, birthdays, graduations, plays, games, etc she went to but it was a lot And you could tell that she loved being there and she loved you and she was pretty easy to love right back. The highlight family event was Rose and Wilma (Sherry and Willie to us) hosting Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone was invited: brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and whomever else was towed along with any of the above. There were anywhere between 35 and 50 people. The dinner was somewhere around 10-15 courses and they always had entertainment: a magician, a story teller, singers…. It was amazing. They shunned all offers of help for meal prep or cleanup. One year, there was a big ice storm in late December and quite a few of the relatives had called to say that if the weather did not warm up, they didn’t feel safe in making the trip to dinner. Rose (aka Aunt Sherry) called me a couple days before and asked (c’mon you know better by now, flat out told me) that if relatives were unable to come, I should go to the airport and find people who were stranded because of the weather and ferry them over to their house. It had never even occurred to me that there could be people stranded at the airport but it did to Rose and she was going to do something about it. Fortunately, the weather warmed and the ice melted and I didn’t have to wreck my car in the ice with a load of strangers inside. But I would have. That’s because I was never ever going to let Aunt Sherry down.
So, you might be thinking about sending flowers. But consider this. Rose was an exceptional gardener. I know that she will be looking down from heaven and she will see your flowers and although doing so graciously and kindly, she will be critiquing them. Don’t risk it. In lieu of sending flowers, we think that she would prefer a donation to St. Rose Church.
The funeral mass is on Friday March 5, 2021 at 11:00am. It will be live streamed at http://www.youtube.com/themadeleineparish
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