Rosamaria "Rosemary" Rodriguez Cantu

Surrounded by family, Rosemary passed away peacefully on Thursday March 18, 2021. Rosemary was born September 25, 1933 in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico to Esther Vidaurri Rodriguez and Salomon Rodriguez. She is predeceased by her brother Salomon and her sister Adriana; cousins Ralph, Leo and Louis Vidaurri; good friends Elmo and Laura Guernsey; Ed and Emily Papuga; and Roy and Roberta Petree.

Rosemary is survived by her husband of 66 years Martin Cantu; her son Martin Jr. and daughter-in-law Susan; daughter MaryEsther Cantu Kitaen and son-in-law Terry; and son Robert and daughter-in-law LeeAnn Davison; grandson Christopher Cantu and wife Andrea; granddaughter Allyson Cantu Fiebig and husband Clay; granddaughter Jennifer Layne Cantu; great-granddaughter Isabella Johnson; great-grandson Finley Fiebig; great-grandson Dylan Cantu; great-grandson Joshua Cantu and great-granddaughter Landry Fiebig. Rosemary is blessed to be survived by many Cantu and Vidaurri brothers and sisters-in-law, cousins, nieces and nephews that were a big part of her life. Rosemary is also survived by her extended San Diego Kitaen family and her San Diego girls.

Rosemary grew up in Laredo and was a proud graduate of Martin High School, participating in many alumni functions. Among her Laredo childhood friends were Yolanda Trevino and Conchita Lawson, who remain close friends to this day.

Rosemary was involved in her kid’s school activities at St Mary Magdalen’s, Olmos Elementary, Nimitz Middle School and was a proud parent of three Lee Volunteers. She cared deeply for her Rebel Rouser daughters and Lee football players, always wanting to know how her Lee babies were doing.

Family was huge on Montview Dr. and she was close to good friends and neighbors Mary Helen Jones, Laverne Prilop, Laura Guernsey and Dolores Valdez.

After raising her three children, Rosemary believed she could spend the next part of her life in service to others and helping to earn a bit of extra money for the family. She was invited to join Oblate Missions by her neighbor and friend, Dolores Valdez. Oblate Missions is the fundraising arm of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a religious order of priests dedicated to serving the needs of the poor across the world.

Rosemary started there as a clerk in the mail room and was quickly promoted to greater responsibilities. In 1980, she served as Fulfillment Manager for the newly acquired Catholic newspaper, El Visitante Dominical. Rosemary promoted the Spanish language weekly ensuring that readers all over the country would get their paper on time. It wasn’t long after that, that her life-long friend and colleague Roberto Gutierrez joined Oblate Missions as the new Marketing Director for El Visitante. Rosemary and Roberto were a formidable marketing juggernaut, boosting the subscriptions from 8,000 copies to 50,000 in a few short months through telephone sales.

Meanwhile, Roberto and colleagues Adan Medrano, Richard Jimenez, Juan Gloria and Irene Sendin from the Oblate Centro de Comunicaciones, began to envision a new TV series for Hispanic Catholics in Spanish. Nuestra Familia was born. Launching a new organization in 1982, Hispanic Telecommunications Network was founded as an independent non-profit production agency. Roberto, now serving as its Executive Director, immediately invited Rosemary to join him and serve as HTN’s first Director of Operations. Rosemary jumped at the chance to manage the organization’s finances and operations. A few short years later, as the organization grew, Roberto promoted Rosemary to Vice President of Operations. During her tenure, HTN acquired financing for a sizeable mortgage to purchase its first headquarters at 130 Lewis St. She then managed the renovation of an off-site production leased space. Throughout her second career, Rosemary also led by example, HTN’s strong Catholic mission traveling to sites like San Juan de Los Lagos Shrine and supporting its annual celebrations of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day mass in December as well as attending national board meetings in New York with her colleagues. Rosemary retired from HTN in 1998, leaving a legacy of strong finances and operations for the San Antonio agency.

Rosemary counts many members of the HTN family among her extended family, Bob and Rosie Gutierrez, Óscar (deceased) and Rose Mary Lawson, Carlos and Gloria Amezcua, Ruby and Gus Arangua. Dolores Valdez, Ken Amerson, Fr. Saturnio Lajo, Yolanda García, Edna Pérez Vega, Karen Cummings, Rosie Álvarez, Carlos Sánchez and Garza Gonzales accountants.

Rosemary loved being a grandmother, “Nanie” to Chris, Ally and Jenny. She loved taking Chris shopping to Toys R Us for HeMan figures, taking Ally shopping and watching her play softball, and going to Jenny’s school functions. She was thrilled to have 4 great grandchildren and enjoyed their visits so much. She may have been worn out after they left her house, but she loved every bit of watching them run around and play.

Rosemary was fortunate to live a full and complete life, filled with so many adventures from going to Texas Longhorn games and watching the band march in (even an OU game where she had to be warned about hearing OU sucks!), to the America’s Cup, to meeting Bishops and Cardinals, and her favorite time of just walking on the beach, whether the Texas Gulf Coast or Mission Beach in San Diego.

She was a fighter - beating breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and fought valiantly against Parkinson’s. Rosemary was a devoted caregiver to her mother, Esther, in her final years. She was a great Mom and Grandmother. No matter the role, she took it on without reservation.

The family gives special thanks to numerous people who supported Rosemary and Martin through Rosemary’s illness. A special thank you to Aunt Mo who was always there for Martin and Rosemary. We thank all the caregivers that helped Rosemary out in her final years, the staff at Autumn Grove Cottage Blanco, Generations Hospice and Fr. Sergio Ibarra.

First and foremost, Rosemary was devoted to the Lord and felt a special calling from the Virgin of Guadalupe. She was her patron saint and prayed often to her. Like the Virgin, Rosemary was family oriented. We give thanks that the Lord and the Virgin gave her comfort in her final days.

RosaMaria, Rosemary, Rose, Ros, Aunt Rosie, Rosie, Sister, Nanie, Mom, Honey or Mother Dear – she was called by many names. We will miss her dearly and are thankful for the examples she gave us.

Martin, Martin, Jr., Esther and Robert

Without a doubt, simply the best mother a child could have. Thank you for the countless ways you have supported and loved us our whole lives. We just always thought it was normal to have a Mom who was always there for you. Now we know that that isn’t always reality. We know how much you and Dad gave up so that we would have more. Thank you for that!

Tricky, Sissy and Bobby

In lieu of flowers, please donate to Oblate Missions or The Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation.

Due to COVID Restrictions there is limited seating at the Immaculate Conception Chapel.

A recording of her service is available below: