Brunswick, ME – Rosemary S. Reese, 71, formerly of Dover, NH, died Wednesday, December 26, 2018 at her home in Brunswick, ME.

A devoted and beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, Rosemary is survived by her husband, Gerard “Jerry” Reese of Brunswick, ME; her son, Thomas Reese, and daughter-in-law, Beth Lahti of Glenview, IL; her daughter, Hannah Reese, and son-in-law, Paul Hyman of Brunswick, ME; and her four grandsons Oscar Hyman-Reese, John Reese, Henry Hyman-Reese, and Benjamin Hyman-Reese. She is also survived by her siblings, Nancy E. Sullivan, Linda F. Sullivan, and James L. Sullivan.

Rosemary was born March 28, 1947 in Nashua, NH, to James and Frances Sullivan. She spent her childhood in Nashua, NH, before attending high school at Abbot Academy in Andover, MA (class of 1965). She went on to complete a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies at Wellesley College (class of 1969) and a Master’s degree in Museum Administration at SUNY Oneonta (Cooperstown Graduate Program). It was during graduate school that she met her husband of 45 years, Jerry Reese. After graduation, she and Jerry lived and worked in Cooperstown, NY, for several happy years. Their son, Tom, was born there in 1976. The young family moved to Dover, NH, in 1978 where Rosemary worked as the assistant to the chair of the Education Department at UNH until the birth of their daughter, Hannah, in 1980. After focusing on motherhood for several years, Rosemary received an unexpected opportunity to return to the workforce. There was an immediate vacancy as a 5th- and 6th-grade teacher at St. Mary Academy. Thus began the most significant chapter of her professional life. She taught science in the classroom for 10 years before becoming the assistant principal in 1997 and eventually the first lay principal of St. Mary Academy in 1999. During her tenure at St. Mary’s, the school thrived, becoming the first elementary school in the diocese to receive accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, growing to include a pre-kindergarten program, and greatly expanding its enrichment and extra-curricular offerings. She retired in 2009. In 2015, she and Jerry moved to Brunswick, ME to be near their daughter’s growing family. In the summer of 2017 she was diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy, which ultimately led to her death.

Visiting hours will be Wednesday, January 2, 2019, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Tasker Funeral Home, 621 Central Avenue, Dover, NH.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be Thursday January 3, 2019 at 10:30 am at Parish of the Assumption St. Mary Church, corner of Chestnut and Third Sts., Dover, NH.

If desired, memorials in her name may be made to St. Mary Academy, 222 Central Ave., Dover, NH.

Please go to www.taskerfh.com to sign the online guestbook