Rosie E. Peterson was born Dec. 11, 1915, along with her twin, Rose. Rosie died Jan. 9. She was born in Bakersfield, Calif., on the Tejon Ranch.
Her father, Henry McKenzie, was a cattle rancher. He fought in the Spanish American war. He used his military training to keep all the children in line. Rosie’s mother, Lydia Covert, started having children in 1901 and had a child or two every other year until 1918.
Rosie got married in 1939 to Reginald Ross Peterson from Santa Barbara, Calif. It was true love. They had two children, Richard Ross and Marie Karen. Rosie always had a beautiful garden with roses and all kinds of flowers. She loved animals and loved to dance. She was a painter and potter. Her husband was also a gardener, an orchid grower, and shipped all over the world. She was a volunteer for Easter Seals for years. When she moved to Pagosa in 2005 with her daughter, she still planted her flowers just to see them grow and would watch the deer eat them all. She always felt blessed.
