Rose Etta Szary

Rose Etta Alling Szary died on Friday, August 12, surrounded by the love of her children. Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and loyal friend, Rose lived a full, productive, creative life, always devoted her family and friends. Her many skills and talents set an admirable example and enriched the lives of the many she knew and loved.

Growing up as the oldest of eight siblings in Waterloo, NY, Rose was a serious student, athlete and musician. She graduated from Waterloo High School and then attended Cortland State Teacher's College to study nursing. She joined the Navy as a nurse during WWII, and was stationed in Davisville, RI, Long Island, NY, Oakland, CA, and the Pacific Island of Guam. In the Navy, Rose met pharmacist mate Alfred Szary. They married in 1946, moved to Irvington, NJ, and started their family of baby boomers. When asked even many decades later, Rose would recall having her seven babies as the most precious times in her life.


Raising her family in New Providence, NJ, Rose filled every spare minute with special cooking, baking, sewing and gardening projects that filled a boisterous household with unique memories like "cowboy dinner," cakes of every holiday shape, handmade formal dresses, a grape arbor, and flower beds all around the big old house. To honor Al's Polish heritage, Rose learned to make borscht, pierogi and galomki, and they became Szary family favorites. Both she and Al completed their college degrees in night school at Jersey City State College and Seton Hall University on the GI bill. Rose was a constant and enthusiastic supporter of all her children's academic, athletic, and musical pursuits, with hours of carpooling and faithful attendance at countless games, meets, concerts and recitals. Through all those busy years, Rose continued to work full or part time as a registered nurse. When Al died in 1976, Rose moved to Ithaca near the Alling family with her two youngest children, Alan and Ann. Rose dedicated several years to caring for her parents in their later lives, and when the new generation came, she traveled all over the country to help with every one of her nineteen newborn grandchildren.

Rose was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church and faithfully raised her children in that tradition. She loyally attended the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca from 1977, when she moved to Ithaca, for as long as her health allowed her to get there. She enjoyed sitting with her friends, she appreciated the very fine music program, and she valued the constancy of the church as part of her life.

A special legacy Rose passes on is her love for the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Her family has deep ancestral roots in the region dating from the early 1800's. She was born in Auburn, NY, to Vera Tilton Alling of Canandaigua and Vernon Wood Alling of Auburn. The young family first lived in the upstairs apartment of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Station on Owasco Lake, where Vernon was the station manager. From there Rose walked a long uphill road, hot potato in her pocket for winter, to a one-room school house for her first four years of elementary school. Idyllic summers were spent on Canandaigua Lake at her Grandmother Tilton's cottage from Rose's childhood through the years of her own early motherhood. When the Canandaigua cottage was sold, extended-family summers centered around Cayuga Lake and the Alling Grandparents' house on Hudson Street in Ithaca. Grandpa Vernon Alling had a ninety-nine year lease from Lehigh Valley on a hundred foot stretch of lake-front down from the east-side tracks, and that special place, named "The Property", was the destination for swimming, fishing, picnics, and camping shared by all the Alling relatives.

As Rose's children and their own families grew, vacations became a matter of renting cottages, or groups of cottages on Cayuga Lake to continue the tradition. Rose took on the responsibility of finding appropriate cottages for everyone, summer after summer, unstoppable in attending to every detail before, during and after the reunion-like vacations. A treasure trove of fond memories and hilarious stories from these lakeside vacations are an invaluable part of the Szary family lore. When the family found "a place of our own" on Wyers Point Road on the west side of Cayuga Lake, it was a tribute to the memories of generations of grandparents who loved and respected the lake.

The beauty, serenity, changeability, and energetic fun of the lake was always a great joy to Rose. She put tremendous love and energy into bringing her family there to share that part of her life. Looking out over the lake will always bring her to mind.
Rose is survived by four daughters, Vera Owens (Marcus), Evelyn Glasrud (Peder, predeceased), Jane Savage ( Joseph), Ann Nollet (Joseph); three sons, Frank Szary (Vicki), John Szary (Patricia), Alan Szary (Nancy); nineteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, August 20 at 10:30 am at the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca, 315 N Cayuga St. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hospicare, 172 E King Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, or to the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca. Bangs Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Saturday, August 20, 2016 10:30 AM

Presbyterian Church 315 N. Cayuga St. Ithaca, NY 14850