Ann Rosser

Ann Rosser died on Oct. 11, 2011, in her home in Corvallis, after a battle with lung cancer. She was 86 years old. She was born on May 17, 1925, in Los Angeles, Calif., to Henry Ferris and Margaret Mary Ives Arnold. She lived in Los Angeles, Hollywood and Redondo Beach, and attended Redondo Beach High School, where, in a U.S. history class, she met Tom Rosser, the man who would be her husband of 64 years. She attended University of California at Berkeley, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in June of 1947. She and Tom married in the fall of that year, and began life together at Hollywood by the Sea in Oxnard, and later moved to nearby Camarillo, Calif. Ann was always an active member of the Ventura County community, serving as president of the League of Women Voters, leader of the Camarillo Heights 4-H club, and a member of the local chapter of the Cal Alumni Association. After surviving breast cancer in 1978, she remarked that she felt like she had a second chance in life. She became a volunteer with Reach to Recovery with the American Cancer Society. A cancer survivor she visited wrote, “She is a wonderful, helpful and understanding human being. She gave me the courage to go on! There are no words to describe how much Ann’s visit meant to me.” Ann went on to become an enrolled tax preparer agent, and continued working for more than 30 years from her home office. She loved numbers. Ann was a longtime member of the Episcopal Church after her baptism at St. Cross Church in Hermosa Beach, Calif., as a teenager. She was a most active member of St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Camarillo, where she was involved in the vestry and choir, and the Faith Alive and Cursillo movements. In the working-out of her faith, she had a strong interest in politics, and was a founding member of the Democratic Club of Camarillo. She attended the Democratic National Convention as a delegate, and later President Clinton’s second inauguration. A few of Ann’s other interests and talents included designing and building their home in California; cooking gourmet meals; enjoying fine wines; and decorating with an eye for color and flair. She and Tom enjoyed traveling, with special memories of visits to Spain, Italy, China and New Zealand. They especially enjoyed their yearly trips to Kailua, Hawaii, to visit their son, his wife, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and traveling through California and Oregon to see their two daughters. Ann and Tom moved to Corvallis in January 2007, and attended the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan. Ann became an active member of Bible studies, book clubs and the vestry. Ann was preceded in death by her husband. She is survived by her sister, Valerie Leach; her son, Tomas Watene Rosser of Kaneohe, Hawaii; and daughters Rebecca Rosser-Curtis of Madras and Dorry Eldon of Corvallis. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Kahea Paaaina, Tomas Rosser, Kupe Rosser, Eric Eldon, Jon Eldon and Annie Eldon; and great-grandchildren, Hinearoha, Toa-Ruawharo, Wiruemu and Nukutai Paaaina. A memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan. Her ashes will be interred on Nov. 12 in the columbarium at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Camarillo.

Tributes

Ann Rosser

May 17, 1925 - October 11, 2011