SPARKMAN, Rosemary

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ February 5, 2008 Rosemary Sparkman, 54, of Lakeside died Feb. 2, 2008. She was the wife of Milton "Pete" Sparkman. A memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, at St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Pinetop. Silver Creek Mortuary of Taylor is handling the arrangements. ~~~~~~~~~~~ The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ February 8, 2008 Rosemary Sparkman was born to Robert and Bertha Glassbrook May 2, 1953, in Longlake, N.Y. One of her favorite pastimes in New York was Sunday afternoons with her family feeding the bears ice cream cones in the national park. Rosemary moved to Arizona when she was seven and graduated from Sunnyside High School in 1970. Soon after she worked at Navapache Hospital as a cook where she met her husband Pete, who also worked there as a repairman. They soon married and began a family that they loved and deeply cherished. Pete and Rosemary had lived in Lakeside for over 10 years where they finished raising their children and began enjoying their grandchildren. Rosemary had a way of making her husband, children, grandchildren and friends feel special and loved. "We will forever be blessed for knowing her, loving her and having her in our lives. She will remain the love of Pete's life and the light in her children's eyes and may God appreciate her in heaven as much as all of us on earth, as we remember her as the wife, mother, grandmother and friend of a lifetime." She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Milton Sparkman; son Gary Blessing of Tucson, three daughters, Bridgett Sparkman of Lakeside, Amanda Cluff of Eagar and Tammy Jennings of Lakeside; brother Robert B. Glassbrook II; and two sisters, Trudy Sofias of Tucson and Heide Shingle of Warren, Ohio; and nine grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert B. and Bertha K. Glassbrook. A memorial Mass was held Thursday, Feb. 7, at St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Pinetop. Silver Creek Mortuary in Taylor made the arrangements.