Rose Conrad

Rose (Marsala) Conrad, 95, of St. Joseph, MI passed away Sunday, October 29, 2017 at Lakeland Hospital Medical Center in St. Joseph surrounded by her loving family.  Mass will be Celebrated 10:00 A.M. Saturday, November 4, 2017 at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, 555 E. Delaware Ave., Benton Harbor with Fr. Ben Huynh officiating. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Benton Harbor. Friends may visit from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM, with prayers recited at 6:30 PM, Friday, November 3, 2017 at Starks & Menchinger Chapel, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Birthright or SS John & Bernard Catholic Church. Those wishing to share a memory of Rose online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com.  She was born December 8, 1921 on a farm in Riverside, MI to Antonio & Anna (Dina) Marsala. She attended many classes to educate herself. On May 22, 1948 Rose married the love of her life John J. Conrad at St. John’s Catholic Church in Benton Harbor, and together they enjoyed 69 years of marriage. She was a longtime member of the Altar Society, and made many quilts for the terminally ill of the parish. She spent many hours of her life working in the church rectory. She was a member of Birthright of St. Joseph, and a longtime member of Trigenta Service League and thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the ladies. Rose deeply enjoyed her family and loved to cook Italian dishes for them. She was a take charge person in her kitchen. She picked her own plum tomatoes late into her 80’s and was very meticulous about her pasta sauce.  Rose is survived by her husband John Conrad; daughters, MaryAnne (Jeffery) Dutra of Brandon, FL, Patricia (Fred) Strong  of Freeland , WA, and Nancy (Bruce) Chatterley of Redmond, WA; sons, Michael (Cindy) Conrad of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and Kenneth Conrad of St. Joseph, MI; eleven grandchildren, Adam Pelletier, David Pelletier, Jeff Strong, Marci Peterson, Collin Chatterley, Griffin Chatterley, Katie Johnston, Christopher Conrad, Andy Conrad, Alex Conrad and Audrey Conrad; three great-grandchildren, Nico Strong, Luna Strong and Ansel Johnston; sister Johanna (John) Schmuhl.  Rose was preceded in death by her parents and brothers Joe Marsala, Angelo Marsala & Paul Marsala.