Rosemary Rooker
The students of Glenwood Middle School will recognize our latest Human of Findlay, Rosemary Rooker. She has served as the Vice Principal for the past three years and loves the kids and her job.
It has been a journey to get to this place in her life. She was one of three sisters born to a traditional Italian Catholic family in West Virginia. Her father was a humble shoe repairman before he moved on to be a night watchman at the strip coal mines. Her mother began as a hospital… receptionist progressing up to be the Director of admitting services. For them family was the most important thing. Life threw the family a curve when at 16 Rosemary’s sister was taken by leukemia. It was the faith of the family that helped them endure. “We believe everything happens for a reason. Everyone has a plan.”
Rosemary was the first of her family to go to college and earned a teaching degree from the University of West Virginia with an emphasis in special education. She taught for a number of years in West Virginia before moving to northwest Ohio. She has gone on to earn, while still teaching, a Master’s in Education Administration at BGSU and her principal certification from Ashland University. She has been the principal at Northview and at Jacobs before making the leap to middle school.
Rosemary has been married to Ron Rooker for seven years and they share five children ages 22 to 26 and all college graduates. When not serving at her school she keeps very busy both in community and her private life. She is honored to serve on the Hope House Board, the Literacy Coalition and is starting a committee to bring more diversity to Findlay. She and Ron love to travel to see the children, visit anywhere there is an ocean and a beach and volunteer. They are active in St Michael’s church, the Halloween parade and Habitat for Humanity.
Rosemary is a seven year survivor of breast cancer and credits her mother for her deep faith that keeps her uplifted and going forward.