Mary Rose Patterson

Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon for Mary Rose Patterson, retired school teacher and counselor, beloved friend, and family member.

Rose was the fourth of six children born to Nellie Mae and Ira Patterson of Amory, Mississippi. She was born on October 22, 1927, and passed peacefully shortly after midnight on November 25, 2017, at Marshall Medical Center North in Guntersville, Alabama.
After graduating from Amory High School in 1945, Rose attended Dallas Bible School in Texas. She then moved to Washington DC where she worked at Southern Railway while attending George Washington University in the evenings.

It was always in Rose's heart to help youth improve their lives. To that end, she obtained several education and counseling degrees from San Jose State University, including a BA in Elementary Education, Resource Specialist Credential, and Masters in Education Counseling. In addition, she completed 20 units toward Graduate Studies in Psychology at Pepperdine University, also obtaining a Marriage, Family and Child Counselor Certificate.
In California, Rose served as an Elementary School Special Day Class Teacher and Learning Disabilities Resource Specialist. After her retirement from teaching in 1991, she went into private practice, providing individual therapy for troubled children and adolescents.

Rose's purpose in life was to learn as much as she could, to be the best she could be, and to help others be the best they could be, whether through teaching and counseling, or leading Self Realization Fellowship (SRF) meditation groups to gain a closer relationship to God. Rose was deeply spiritual; always ready and open to new ways of thinking and helping others to expand their own horizons. Rose also believed in charitable giving and contributed regularly to SRF, Unity Church, Soaring Eagle Heritage Living Center, and Edmundite Missions.

Rose loved to read about a variety of subjects and was also an avid writer. She enjoyed working in her flower garden and took pleasure in watching the birds who came to visit it. Rose loved to dance, play golf and meet new people. She was a member of Toastmasters International, obtaining Competent Toastmaster (CTM) status. She also loved dogs, including her own, Ganzo and Puli, and enjoyed walking her neighbor's dogs. Rose was an adventurous spirit, travelling all over the United States, six European countries, China, Mexico and Israel. She always took great satisfaction in learning as much as she could about the culture of the countries she visited.

Her positive energy, love for others, and continual efforts to learn and grow spiritually while helping others do the same, have been an inspiration to all who have been fortunate to know her.

Rose is preceded in death by her parents, Ira Newton Patterson and Nellie Mae Robinson; her sisters Eloise Sullivan and Ouida Snyder; her brothers Leo Patterson, Ira Patterson, and Robert (Talmadge) Patterson; She is survived by her nieces Beverly Floyd, Brenda Sumrall, Wanda Thorn, and Debbie Holtzman; her nephews, Bobby Patterson and Joe Snyder; her sisters-in-law, Lorraine Patterson, Mary Patterson, and Johnnie Wooldridge; her many great nieces and nephews, and great-great nieces and nephews; her Godson, Mik Oyler, and many cherished friends.

Visitation will be from noon until start of service at 3