RoseAnn Rodabaugh Dolan, 55, died peacefully on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010 following an extended illness.
She was born in Bluffton, Ohio on August 2, 1954 to Dr. Franklin and Lois Rodabaugh. RoseAnn graduated from Bluffton High School in 1972 and Bowling Green State University in 1976 with a degree in Deaf Education. RoseAnn also received a degree in nursing from the Good Samaritan School of Nursing in Portland, Ore. RoseAnn and Christopher Dolan were married June 28, 1986. They have two children, Zachary and Adia. In 1992, they made their home on Orcas Island.
RoseAnn brought grace to everything she did in life. Her work was always heart-centered, focused on health, spirit and human connection. She worked as a parent-infant specialist for the hearing impaired in Chicago and Portland and a teacher for mentally and physically handicapped children at the Holladay Center in Portland. After becoming a registered nurse, RoseAnn worked as a hospice and home heath nurse and was part of the founding staff of Hospice House in Portland. RoseAnn and Christopher also managed Indralaya, a Theosophical Society camp on Orcas Island from 1992 to 1994.
RoseAnn was gifted in bridging ideas and beliefs. She blended the alternative health fields with the traditional models during her journey with her health. She also embraced her love of Jesus Christ while also including meditation, chanting, Therapeutic Touch and a mind/ body/spirit counseling practice.
An avid lover of nature, RoseAnn loved to be with the trees, on the water, cross country skiing (in her younger years) bicycling, hiking or just sitting in meditation in the sun. She loved to garden, loved flowers, loved beauty. Her favorite bird was the white swan. She loved to sing and was a member of choral groups her whole life. Rosie, an avid Girl Scout, was the one you would want at your campfire to lead you in song. She was a member of the Orcas Choral Society and the Orcas a Capella Group, with whom she traveled to Spain. RoseAnn’s deepest passion was for her children. She could be a ferocious mother bear – and also a tireless volunteer at her children’s schools and for her children’s many activities.
RoseAnn was very well loved by endlessly rippling circles of friends. A friend from her childhood wrote: The three of us had just one unwavering rule: Rosie had to be in the middle – to stand, to walk, to sit – always in the middle. So that’s how we proceeded through the decades of our lives – through junior high, high school, college and beyond – three friends, with Rosie in the middle. Our hearts are heavy, our middle is empty, but our lives are forever richer, and deeper and fuller because of Rosie.
In addition to her husband and children, RoseAnn is survived by two brothers: Fred (Patricia) and David (Christine) Rodabaugh; and four sisters: Kay (John) Parent, Karen Farmer, Dorothea Rodabaugh, and Lora (Robert) Haimes and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial services will be held on Orcas Island on Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. at the Orcas Center; in Portland on Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. at the SMILE Station in Sellwood; and in Bluffton, Ohio. For more information and to sign RoseAnn’s guestbook, go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/roseanndolan1. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in RoseAnn’s name to www.caringbridge.org or to the RoseAnn Dolan Family Fund at Islanders Bank on Orcas Island.
Submitted by RoseAnn Dolan’s family.
