Rosemary (Cogan) Reeder, 102, of Waco, passed away peacefully on February 26, 2025.
A Celebration of Life will be held Tuesday March 18th at 2pm at Lynridge of Waco Assisted Living.
Rosemary was born in Clinton Indiana in 1922, and married William J. Reeder in 1943 after meeting in high school. Their only son, Joseph Reeder, was born in 1944. After the war, where Bill served in the Marines, they lived in Ohio and Indiana, then made their way to Waco in 1953 for work and a new life. They eventually built a house in a new neighborhood on Lake Forest Drive in 1959 where Rosemary lived until 2022.
Rosemary was a unique spirit, and touched people wherever she met them in life. She had a great sense of humor, spunk, and sass to go along with her kind nature and high-energy lifestyle of painting, drawing, listening to music, and many decades of aerobics classes and dog walking that allowed her to remain mobile up until her passing. She kept her sharp wit and amazing memory her entire life. In addition to her many friends in the Waco community, she was young at heart, and as she aged always seemed to have friends decades younger. She loved to travel and see the world, going on cruises to every continent after Bill’s retirement in 1985. She had a great love for animals, having dogs and cats for most of her life, and was secretly known to feed wild raccoons for many years from her patio looking out into the woods.
Rosemary was preceded in death by her beloved son Joseph in 2004, and her husband Bill in 2008. She had a special relationship with her son and her eldest sister, Loretta Semler, who preceded her in 1993. Rosemary continued to live independently after 2008, joining the community at Heartis/Lynridge of Waco in 2022.
Rosemary is survived by her grandson, Garreth, and will be missed by many in her Waco and Lynridge community. A special thanks to her friend Athena Stinson and the staff and friends at Heartis/Lynridge who helped make her latter years full of life.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Rosemary Reeder’s name to the Humane Society of Central Texas, PO Box 25, Waco, TX 76703, or online at www.humanesocietycentraltexas.org.
Thoughts and memories may be shared in the online Guest Book at www.LakeshoreFuneralHome.com. An online album in remembrance can be viewed here.
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You all have my deepest condolences. She was a very sweet lady and loved by many. Prayers to the family and friends.
Such an amazing woman
She laughed contagiously and playful personality.
Very loving and comforting.
She was worried about my dogs and cats.
When I was in despair over them starving, while I was trapped in the hospital.
She’s an angel now. A beautiful queen 👑 💞