Leah Jennifer Rose

It is with profound sadness and much love that the family of Leah Jennifer Rose shares her peaceful passing on September 9, 2023, at the age of 51 years, surrounded by her family. Leah was a thoughtful, warm, and caring person. A loyal friend, she always remembered the details of people’s lives. Not only a cherished friend, she was also a devoted mother, sister, and wife. She found joy in the company of friends and family, delicious food, hiking and nature, high-quality chocolate, strong coffee, and mysteries.

Leah was born in Madison, Wisconsin on May 10, 1972, and grew up in the countryside outside of Verona, Wisconsin. In her youth Leah loved the arts; she wrote poetry, played music, and performed in Shakespeare plays. She continued to be a dramatic and talented actor in high school and college. Leah attended Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and spent a semester abroad in Aberdeen, Scotland. After college, Leah spent a year in Israel, exploring her Jewish roots, living on a Kibbutz, and volunteering at a women’s shelter. She moved to Seattle in 1995 to pursue a Master of Social Work at the University of Washington. She met her husband, Owen, in 1998 as she was finishing that degree.

Leah was deeply committed to aiding foster children. She was a dedicated and valued social worker for the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families for eighteen years before moving to Refugees Northwest, part of Lutheran Community Services, where she worked to find and license foster families for unaccompanied minor refugees for the last seven years of her life. She was greatly appreciated in her work for being kind, compassionate, calm and supportive.

Leah’s greatest joy was her children, Kasdin and Arlo. She loved being a mother to her two children and supported them in all their endeavors, including music, dance, sports, school, and their particular interests ranging from animals and biology to history and mythology. Her daughter Kasdin is in college in San Francisco, while her son Arlo is in middle school.

A memorial service for Leah was held in Seattle January 7, 2024. The Leah Rose Memorial Fund has been established at Leah's place of work with the purpose of offering extra support to the foster families who are helping the unaccompanied refugee children and teens (Refugees Northwest Foster Care/Lutheran Community Services, Northwest, 1107 NE 45th Street, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98105). Memorials may also be made to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle for research in preventing and treating breast cancer (1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109) or to a public library of your choice for purchase of mysteries.

Leah will be lovingly remembered by her husband, Owen Hamel, her children Kasdin and Arlo, her mother Cindy Rose, sisters Wendy (Kevin Hovel) and Alisa (Gabriel Castillo), four nephews and a niece, and numerous other family and close friends. She was predeceased by her father, Sheldon Rose.