ROSALIE FRANCES BUTLER FLEMING COFFEY
ALAMO - Rosalie Frances Butler Fleming Coffey, 94, passed away peacefully on April 27, 2019, at the Alfredo Gonzalez Texas State Veterans Home in McAllen, Texas.
Rosalie was born on July 30, 1924, to Brack Madison Butler and Meda Simpson Butler in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was the eldest of four children. Rosalie was raised in the small rural town of Skiatook, Oklahoma (just north of Tulsa) where her family spent their lives farming. She graduated from Skiatook High School in 1942 and moved to Tulsa to work. Rosalie married John Henry Fleming in 1946. They were married 20 years and had three daughters: Frances Oneta, Ruth Ann, and Rosemary Kay. After John died in 1966, Rosalie married Calvin Lee Coffey in 1969. They enjoyed 12 years together until his death in 1981.
When her daughters were young, she was a homemaker who loved sewing dresses and other garments for the girls. Later, Rosalie worked as a secretary for Remco Manufacturing Company and then at the Metro Campus of Tulsa Junior College. She helped with the child care of her granddaughter, Michelle, and all the kids knew her as “Grandma.” In 1986, she moved to Alamo, Texas where she worked part-time in her daughter and son-in-law’s company, Hess Air, Inc. Rosalie helped with the child care of her two Texas grandchildren - Gretchen and Roderick, and was known affectionately by children and adults alike as “Grandma.”
She loved books and served as a board member of the Alamo Public Library for a time. Her interests also included music and old movies which filled her home. Having learned to crochet as a young girl, she made many beautiful doilies, afghans, and other projects throughout her life. When listening to music or watching TV, there was always a stash of yarn next to her easy chair where she enjoyed passing the time crocheting almost anything.
Rosalie is survived by her three daughters, Oneta Ryan of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Ruth Ann Fleming of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Rosemary Kay Hess and husband Luis of Alamo, Texas. Also surviving are grandchildren Michelle Deanne Hayes of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Gretchen Luise Olivares and husband Greg, of San Antonio, Texas, and Roderick Nikolaus Hess and wife Kimberly, of Edinburg, Texas. Great grandchildren include Kenley, Michaela, and Kendall Hayes of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Alyssa Olivares of Arlington, Texas, Amber Olivares of San Antonio, Texas, and Danielle and Derick Hess of Edinburg, Texas. Her “self-adopted” family includes: Sylvia Mendez, Angela Mendez Mendietta and Liam Raine Mendietta of Alamo Texas, who even though are not blood related, she loved very much. Other survivors include two siblings: Jimmie B. Butler and wife Shirley of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Ronald Brack Butler and wife Roselle of Granbury, Texas. Her sister, Alma Mae Bortmes, preceded her in death.
Visitation egan at 6 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. prayer service Wednesday, May 1, 2019, at Memorial Funeral Home, 311 E. Expressway 83, in San Juan, Texas.
A graveside service was held at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday, May 3, 2019, where Rosalie will be laid to rest at her family plot.
Local services were under the direction of Memorial Funeral Home in San Juan.