Mrs. Rose Marie Elder of Belleisle Creek, NB, passed away at Sussex Health Centre on December 6, 2005 at the age of 76. Born in Charlottetown PEI on December 12, 1928, she was the daughter of the late Ewen and Margaret MacDougall. Rose was predeceased by her husband Verne Elder who passed away in 1970. Rose is survived by two daughters, Diane Robichaud and her husband Emile of Moncton, June Elder and her husband Louie Hachey of Vancouver, one son, Donald and his wife Eileen of Riverbank, her sister, Joyce Heron of Charlottetown, PEI, her special friend, Garnett Snider of Belleisle Creek, three grandchildren: Jodie, Robert and Lisa, her niece, Cheryll, two nephews, Kevin and Kent as well as several cousins. A quiet woman, with unwavering determination, are but a few words suggestive of who Rose Elder was. Rose was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1928. She grew up in St Catherines, a small village about 25 minutes from Charlottetown, PEI. Born at a time when all families had to work hard, her struggles were compounded by the illness and then loss of her mother at an early age. Rose found herself with many responsibilities that would normally fall to someone much older. Cooking, cleaning and tending to the house, she assumed many of the household chores at her father's home. She also cared for her uncle's young children, her cousins, prepared the meals for his farm hands, and helped farm the land. Later, having met her and married her husband Verne Elder she and her beautiful daughter Diane moved to Sussex, New Brunswick. Rose and Verne had two wonderful children, Donnie and June. Rose lived in the Sussex and Belleisle areas the rest of her life. Rose was most content when she had her animals around her. There were very few times anyone can remember her without a canary, dog, chicken, calf or some living creatures under her care. She especially loved her "baby" goats that she raised with Garnett. Not one to indulge on herself, she was often helping those she felt were less fortunate than herself. Rose was a generous person, sometimes to a fault, giving to others and believing their stories of hardship as she had experienced many herself. Whether it was a place to stay or a bite to eat, Rose was always willing to open her heart and home. You would never go hungry at her place. If you visited she always encouraged you to eat. She would say "Oh dear, have some more". When offering desserts, she would say "Oh dear, it is only fluff, it won't hurt you". She was always persistent and always managed to get you to take at least one. And, she always like to call everyone "dear". She also seemed to conveniently forget your dislikes...Even after 40 years she was always surprised of one's dislikes. She would always say " Oh dear, you don't like beets, you must like beets, dear, they are good for you." Although she was not a chef she had her signature dishes. Her home made soup and her stew(boiled dinner) were especially delicious. When we were kids coming home from school for lunch she had dinner ready for us. Our favorite was her homemade french fries. Even though she did not like baking, chocolate cake and molasses cookies were the mainstay of the baking when we were growing up. When visiting her it was not possible to leave empty handed. She always wanted to give you something, whether it was another couple of squares for the trip home, vegetables from the garden, or food from the fridge. She was a worry wart. When her children started travelling to foreign and exotic destinations, and some not so foreign, she would say, "but dear, you don't have to go to those places" . She then would go on to tell you about the latest news reports she had heard about some disasters in far off lands. Although she did not travel far, she always loved to go to the "island" to see her much loved sister, Joyce. She had a green thumb. She would take a leaf of a plant and just stick it in a pot of soil and it would grow. She would like to give you a slip of one of her plants and wrap it in a bit of paper towel in baggie for you to take home and grow. She liked tending to her houseplants. The African violet, an often unpredictable plant, seemed to flourish under her care. Her living room was full of them along with other other plants. She loved her flowers indoors and out. In her younger years she always had a garden full of vegetables to boast about. She was not squeamish, whether it was plucking chickens or cleaning the huge salmon Donnie had caught. When she was angry, you knew it. It was like you were not there. Sometimes if you were talking about something she did not want to talk about she would pretend not to hear you or if you persisted, you would get the steely eyed glare! She could be as stubborn as they come. She lived life on her own terms. She was very proud of her children and in her own way acknowledged this. Comments she made about her daughter, June left no doubt about how proud she was of her. Being a proud person, she was often reluctant to accept help, but she knew that Diane was there for her and often came to rely on her. She often worried about Donnie and said "he should not be working so hard driving those old trucks, that they were dangerous". Her mothering also extended to Garnett as she would often chide him for not eating all his meal, or doing exactly as she asked, but it was known that he was someone who was very special to her. Though we all miss her, we take comfort in knowing that she is free again from the hardships she endured at end of her life here on earth. May she find peace and happiness in the next life! We hope to see her again with a smile on her face and her animals by her side. Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Wallace Funeral Home, 34 Sunnyside Drive, Sussex, (506-433-1176). At Rose's request there will be no visitation. A Memorial Service was held at St. Simon & St. Jude's Anglican Church on Saturday, December 17, 2005 at 1:00 pm with Rev. Linda Fuller officiating. The musical selections