Roseanne Corrigan Owens

Roseanne Corrigan Owens, Wenatchee hometown girl and beloved wife, mother, grandmother, auntie, and friend to many, passed away on October 26, 2024. Rose was born in Wenatchee, WA to Carol and John Corrigan on November 9, 1952. She was the second of five siblings. Growing up, Rose was befriended by the Aumell family (Angela, Stanley, and their children Charley, Gloria, James, Joe, John, Kas,Mary, Mike, and Tom) who became her dearly loved second family. Rose attended St. Joseph School, Wenatchee High School (Class of 1971), Wenatchee Valley College (AA, Class of 1973), and - later - the University of Washington at Tacoma (BA, Class of 2001).

Rose moved to Seattle in 1973. She began a career at Sears, where she met her husband, Tim Owens, and lifelong “besties” Denise Disbro [Tom], Judy Johnson [Gary], Inga Bertman [Mike] and Pat Johnsen [Herby]. These ladies raised their families together with cherished time at Long Beach and Lake Chelan. 

Rose and Tim were engaged in 1981, following a somewhat whirlwind romance and married in 1982. At the wedding three Aumell sisters - Gloria Pashinski [Dave], Mary Mukai [Mike] and Kas Law [Bruce] - served as Rose’s bridesmaids and John Aumell was one of the groomsmen with Tim. Rose and Tim began married life in Lynnwood. 

Rose and Tim welcomed their first daughter, Megan Rose, in 1983. In 1985, they relocated to Tacoma and welcomed their second daughter, Molly Kathleen, in 1986. 

Rose was a full-time loving mom, then worked in co-op preschooling before starting a new chapter of her career as a para educator for the Tacoma Public School District at Lowell School in Tacoma. Rose also went back to college part time at the University of Washington at Tacoma and graduated with honors in 2001. Rose then worked at UW Tacoma as an accounting specialist for the School of Social Work, in 2003 returned to work for Tacoma Public Schools in various accounting roles. 

In 2017, Megan and Evan Faught provided Rose with her last position, Grammy. Eliza was born in October and Rose retired in December. Tim also retired in July 2018, making traveling to their children and grandchildren more frequent and fun. In December 2020, Rose experienced a traumatic brain injury due to a fall at home. She made a remarkable recovery through OT, PT and her characteristic hard work. She was present and ready for the arrival of her second grandchild, Maxwell, in May 2021. 

In March 2022, Rose and Tim returned to Rose’s hometown. She took up a very social routine of walks, yoga and getting a “cuppa” with the girls, while continuing her rehab work. Rose had an excellent time being with Kas, Lynn Gahringer, and her cousin Connie [Corrigan] Zaremba and a host of other friends and family who added to her joy of living back in Wenatchee.

Rose died at Harborview in Seattle following a brief hospitalization from a ruptured brain aneurysm unrelated to her TBI. In her life, Rose had surrounded others with love, joy, wit, and generosity of affection. She was surrounded by love at the end of her life. Her wish to be an organ donor was honored and other lives will be saved from her last generous gift. 

Rose was preceded in death by John and Dorothy Corrigan; Carol [Abair] Corrigan Loken Wilkowski; Stanley, Angela, Joe, Michael, Charles, John and Gloria Aumell; and wonderful friends Judy, Mike, Tom and Herby. Rose is survived by Tim; Megan, Evan, Eliza and Maxwell Faught; Molly Owens; her siblings Dan, Chris, Vince[Chandra] and Janet Williams[Dennis]; her second family Kas[Bruce] Law; Mary[Mike] Mukai; James, Fred[Camille] and Tom[Karen] Aumell and a whole host of nieces, nephews and grands.

Funeral service Saturday November 9th at 11:00 am; St Joseph Catholic Church, Wenatchee WA. Reception follows immediately in Kuykendall Hall at the parish. Live stream link of the service at https://stjosephwen.org. Rose’s remains will rest at Lake Chelan next summer.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to St Francis House, an overnight shelter here in Wenatchee where Rose had been assisting with providing Sunday dinners. Donations can be made at https://www.thepeoplesfoundation.net/copy-of-donate or via mail to the St. Francis House c/o Washington Trust Bank, 759 S Wenatchee Avenue, Wenatchee, WA 98801.