Rosemarie Elizabeth Stewart

Rosemarie Elizabeth Stewart passed away peacefully on January 10, 2025 at the age of 87 in the presence of her family. She was born in Berlin, Germany on July 17, 1937 to Frieda Erna Lisbeth Bluhm.

Rosemarie’s early life was spent in the most difficult of circumstances. She was primarily raised by her grandmother Anna Marie Luise Matzschulat Bluhm as her mother worked in the office of a nearby steel mill and was their only source of income. During the first years, her day to day life was one that was typical for any family living in Berlin at that time. Even after Germany invaded Poland in 1939 starting World War II, things remained mostly unaffected. This all changed in the spring of 1943 when the tide of the war turned against Germany. As the Allies had started bombing Berlin, the German government began evacuating civilians to Poland with the exception of those who were deemed necessary to the war effort. Rosemarie, her grandmother and infant cousin Erika were forced to relocate to a small village in rural Poland, but because of her job at the steel mill, her mother was forced to stay behind. Their new home was a small one room apartment with no plumbing, no electricity, and water had to be carried in from a community well. It was here that Rosemarie almost succumbed to typhoid fever. They remained until the late spring of 1944 when they were forced to flee the advancing Russian army, but this time they had to leave in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their back. They managed to get passage on a German Red Cross train traveling from the Russian front back to Berlin, but the city they returned to was nothing like the one they left. The air raids from allied bombers became more and more frequent and their only shelter was the basement of the home in which they lived. Between the raids, they would watch as the city burned. One day, the bombing stopped. They had survived, but they knew that this meant the Russian forces had entered the city. The next two months were horrific as the Russians took out their revenge on those who remained in the city. There was no food and Rosemarie’s family began to forage in the nearby forest for nuts or anything else they could eat. They would have starved if not for some men in “striped pajamas” who came to their door hoping to find any kind of men’s clothing. These men had been freed from a nearby labor camp, and in exchange they showed her family where a supply train with Allied MREs had been attacked. They helped the family carry as many as they could back to their home. If not for these MREs, they most certainly would have starved before France took control of their part of the city. Having survived the devastation that the war had brought, there was hope, but Rosemarie soon contracted tuberculosis and spent many months in the hospital. Once again, many thought that she would not survive, but she fought through it and made a full recovery.

In 1958, Rosemarie emigrated to the US with her stepfather. Her mother was to follow shortly after. They arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah where she soon found herself in a very troubling situation due to the dishonesty of others. Her mother reached out to the only American she knew, an LDS missionary named Daniel Roger Stewart. He then reached out to his family and his parents traveled quickly to Salt Lake City. They found Rosemarie was indeed in a most difficult situation and offered to bring her back to their cattle ranch in Alamo, Nevada. She accepted, and she began corresponding with Roger until he returned from his mission a few months later. They dated and were later married on October 10, 1958, in the Saint George, Utah Temple. After Roger’s time in the military, they arrived in Reno, Nevada in January of 1961. They welcomed their son Jeffrey Alan Stewart on May 24, 1963 and continued to reside in Reno until June of 2024. During their 63 years in Reno, they developed many close and dear friendships. Rosemarie will be remembered by all as a woman of great strength, resilience and kindness.

Rosemarie is survived by her husband Roger, son Jeffrey, daughter-in-law Christine, and four grandchildren, Katherine (Corwin) Hurst, Kimberly (Slade) Beuchert, Michael (Valerie) Stewart, Natalie Stewart, and six great grandchildren.

A viewing will be held on Friday, January 17, 2025 at 10:00 AM at the LDS Alamo, Nevada Ward meeting house followed by a family graveside service at 11:30 AM. Final arrangements are under the direction of Southern Nevada Mortuary. To share online condolences, please visit www.southernnevadamortuary.com.

Rosemarie will be deeply missed by all that knew her, and her legacy will live on in the hearts of those who loved her.