Rosemary Ann Andrews

Our dear mother, Rosemary (nee Forman) Andrews, peacefully passed away of cancer on September 4, 2023, in Salem, Oregon at the age of 77.  Her final moments were spent surrounded by her loved ones. Rosemary was raised in the Catholic faith and knew she would be joining Jesus in her eternal home.

Rosemary was born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, October 2 ^nd , 1945, to Homer and Roxanna Forman, the oldest of 4 children. Rosemary’s family moved around to many states during her school aged years until they finally landed in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is where she met her first husband, Ronald Thome, the father of her two children, Roxanna and Zachary.  She married him at the age of 18, in 1964.  After their marriage she went back to high school and graduated from Las Vegas High in 1966. Rosemary excelled in Art classes, winning several first prize contests for her paintings.

Rosemary was a stay-at-home mom in the beginning. She enjoyed sewing, gardening, canning, and cooking meals from scratch. The children wore matching outfits on many occasions. Her first job out of the house was writing Keno tickets at the Rainbow Club, in Henderson, NV to help make ends meet. She then sold Avon for approximately 7 ½ years making President’s Club, an honor for reaching sales exceeding 10,000 dollars within 26 campaigns.

She then married her now ex-husband, Martin “Mark” Andrews. Rosemary continued to work miscellaneous jobs.  A few memorable ones were Sams Town Hotel and Casino and PEPCON, the chemical plant in Henderson, NV. PEPCON had an explosion on May 4, 1988, and unfortunately resulted in 2 fatalities and over 300 injuries.  She had been working there that day and later told the family how lucky she was to have survived the ordeal unscathed. She put in her resignation shortly after that.

Rosemary cherished spending time with her adult children, grandchildren, and great children when time and distance would allow. Rosemary overcame her fear of flying in the summer of 2013 when she first flew to Portland, Oregon to spend time with her family, and continued the tradition until 2018. Then in September 2021 she flew up to see her grandson, Jack get married.

She also loved writing letters and sending cards for holidays and special occasions to family and friends, something that was passed down to her from her mother. No matter what was going on in her life she always found the time to respond to a friend’s letter or remember someone’s birthday.

Rosemary was very outgoing and loved the people of Las Vegas and the culture.  One of her fondest memories was seeing Elvis Presley perform at the big Hilton, twice! Along the way she befriended many Las Vegans playing bingo at the local casinos and Whitney Senior Center.   Rosemary was known for being witty, fun, animated, brave, loving, and kind.  As a mother, sister, grandma, aunt, niece, cousin, and friend she will truly be missed by all who loved her.

She is survived by her daughter, Roxanna Mckibben, her son, Zachary Thome, two grandchildren: Jack (Laura) Hollaway Jr. and Bethany Shearer, three great grandchildren: Phoebe Hollaway, Brooklyn Hollaway, and Ivy Hollaway, her sister Marie (Rodney) Pierce, two aunts: Ruby (Don) Wooten and Carol (Bob) Knapp, her uncle: Frank Forman, three nephews: Steven (Lisa) Forman, James Courts, and Daniel Courts, her niece: Charlene Forman, her cousin: Carol (Ronnie) Oliver, and her cat Nosie.