Rosemary T. Brozena |
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Rosemary T. Brozena, who realized a life dream of earning a college degree when she was in her 50s, died of congestive heart failure Saturday at Oak Crest Village retirement community. She was 86.
Rosemary Piscotty, the daughter of an anthracite coal miner and a mother who owned and operated a grocery store, was born and raised in Plymouth, Pa.
She was a 1941 graduate of Plymouth High School and attended Wilkes-Barre Business College.
During World War II, she worked at Olmsted Air Force Base near Harrisburg, Pa., from 1943 to 1948. It was while working at the air base, that she met her future husband.
"He held the door open for her one day and it turned out he was from her hometown," said a daughter, Ann Butrow of Bel Air.
In 1947, she married Lt. Col. Anthony G. Brozena, a career Air Force officer, who died in 2007.
The couple were longtime Hamilton residents where she was an active member of St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church. She helped with the Boy and Girl Scouts and volunteered at Garrett Heights Elementary School.
Mrs. Brozena began attending Dundalk Community College where she earned an associate's degree in 1975.
"We didn't even know she was going to school. She hadn't bothered to tell anybody," said Mrs. Butrow, with a laugh.
"She'd go down to the post exchange at Fort Holabird and then to school. She was part of the college's first Women's Program that was designed to help women expand their traditional roles and opportunities," her daughter said.
For several years, Mrs. Brozena ran Scotty's Skills Exchange, a bartering service, that she owned and operated from her home.
She enjoyed entertaining friends and family and traveling.
After her husband's death, she moved to Oak Crest Village, where a funeral Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Also surviving are a son, Anthony G. Brozena Jr. of Albuquerque; two other daughters, Teresa Greenberg of Hampstead and Mary Louise Brozena of Portsmouth, N.H.; two sisters, Joan Merhige of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Eleanor Kopicki of Waco, Texas; and two grandchildren.
Rosemary Piscotty, the daughter of an anthracite coal miner and a mother who owned and operated a grocery store, was born and raised in Plymouth, Pa.
She was a 1941 graduate of Plymouth High School and attended Wilkes-Barre Business College.
During World War II, she worked at Olmsted Air Force Base near Harrisburg, Pa., from 1943 to 1948. It was while working at the air base, that she met her future husband.
"He held the door open for her one day and it turned out he was from her hometown," said a daughter, Ann Butrow of Bel Air.
In 1947, she married Lt. Col. Anthony G. Brozena, a career Air Force officer, who died in 2007.
The couple were longtime Hamilton residents where she was an active member of St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church. She helped with the Boy and Girl Scouts and volunteered at Garrett Heights Elementary School.
Mrs. Brozena began attending Dundalk Community College where she earned an associate's degree in 1975.
"We didn't even know she was going to school. She hadn't bothered to tell anybody," said Mrs. Butrow, with a laugh.
"She'd go down to the post exchange at Fort Holabird and then to school. She was part of the college's first Women's Program that was designed to help women expand their traditional roles and opportunities," her daughter said.
For several years, Mrs. Brozena ran Scotty's Skills Exchange, a bartering service, that she owned and operated from her home.
She enjoyed entertaining friends and family and traveling.
After her husband's death, she moved to Oak Crest Village, where a funeral Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Also surviving are a son, Anthony G. Brozena Jr. of Albuquerque; two other daughters, Teresa Greenberg of Hampstead and Mary Louise Brozena of Portsmouth, N.H.; two sisters, Joan Merhige of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Eleanor Kopicki of Waco, Texas; and two grandchildren.
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