July 18 Speaker
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On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of hearing Rose Marie Basaraba, a fourteen year member of Rotary, tell us a little about her life and how she came to be a Rotarian. Rose Marie was born. Raised and educated in Bon Accord, just north of the city. She said that from a young age, she has always been a people person. Her dad was an Austrian immigrant and a carpenter and she has two younger brothers. She clearly remembers walking along the rail road line to school in the winters, as the snow was always ploughed there. She also remembers all the walking she did with a bag over her shoulder, delivering the Edmonton Journal. She has many friends that she made growing up in a small town and still regularly keeps in touch with many of them. After she finished school, she attended business college in Edmonton, and soon after had a job working for the Provincial Government in the young offender’s office. Her father passed away at about this time and she travelled back and forth to go home to Bon Accord each weekend to help her mother out.
She soon met Con, as they both loved to go dancing at the Trocadero in Edmonton. They were married and went on the have three children. Con had his own business that took him away from home a lot, so Rose Marie raised her children alone most of the time. Rose Marie also tried to keep up her secretarial skills by doing some part time work, and when her children had all become teenagers, she decided she needed to get out and meet more people. She returned to work, this time in administration at Norquest College, and she also joined Toastmasters. She made it a point to remember the names of the students that she came in contact with. During this time, she met many people from all over the world and is still good friends with many of them. She was very proud to be asked to speak one year at the Norquest College graduation ceremonies, held at the Jubilee Auditorium.
After seventeen and a half years at Norquest College, she decided that it was time to retire. She wanted to spend more time with her family and be able to help out with her handicapped grand daughter. She also started helping Con with his business by keeping the books. It was soon after this, while talking with their company accountant, who suggested that since she had more time on her hands now, she might like to see if she would enjoy being part of Rotary. She attended a few meetings and soon joined and became an active member. She has since served three terms as secretary and one term as President for the Edmonton Strathcona Rotary. She is still very busy with her family, friends and other interests. She serves as a mentor for a smaller Toastmasters club, and has also recently joined the Cosmopolitan choir. She says she did not know how to read music when she joined, but she does now.
Rose Marie never continues to be amazed by the things that Rotary is involved with and looks forward to doing more with Rotary, and helping out where ever she can. In her words, ‘people and friendships are what makes life complete’.
Rose Marie Basaraba