ROSE JOHANNA (KENNEDY) REED, age 105, of Redwood Falls, died at her daughter's home in Luverne.  When Rose was born at home in St. Paul in 1910, few homes had telephones, women could not vote, and girls' education was considered a luxury.  When her father taught her to drive at age 14, Rose took no test, received no driver's license, and purchased no auto insurance.  These were all to arrive later, after she graduated from St. Joseph's Academy, after she logged a number of years as a secretary, and after she fell in love with a good-humored, hard-working small town guy from Redwood Falls, James Reed.
Upon Rose and Jim's marriage in Chicago in 1950, the bride's only concern about moving to Redwood Falls was that her elderly mother remained alone in St. Paul.  The couple solved the matter by welcoming Rose's mother as part of their young family.  The home they built together was warmly and uniquely harmonious, with Rose commenting years later that, "Your Dad and I just saw things the same way."
Unafraid of work, she re-entered the work force in the 1960's as the accountant of the Redwood County Highway Department.  A few years later she helped launch the local chapter of the MCCL and volunteered on its behalf for almost four decades.
After Jim died in 1979, Rose's life manifested a remarkably independent streak that surprised the two daughters who had seen her primarily as a demure and dedicated wife and mother.  Rose challenged herself with computer lessons in her eighties, participated as an active member of the Twentieth Century Study Club well into her nineties, and purchased her first cellphone as she neared one hundred.
In her leisure she loved a game of bridge, a piece of chocolate, a discussion of politics or business, and a turn around the dance floor.  She celebrated the recent marriage of her youngest grandson the same way she had celebrated the earlier marriages of her other grandsons, by dancing with the groom at his wedding.  Most especially, she enjoyed being with her daughters and sons-in-law, her grandsons and granddaughters-in-law, and her great-granddaughters.  She guided each of them in special ways, and to each of them she was a gift and an inspiration.
For more than a century, the central hub of Rose's life was her unflinching faith in a loving God. This faith was not tarnished as she faced very advanced age.   Despite her failing faculties, she remained grateful.   At Thanksgiving a couple of years ago she said, "I am thankful for my health.  I can't see.  And I can't hear.  And I can't walk very well, but I have my health."   Despite a tumble this past spring that caused her to move from Garnette Gardens to Luverne, Minnesota, she dubbed the summer of 2015 as "the most beautiful summer I can remember."
She was preceded in death by her husband Jim, by her parents Daniel and Mary (Myler) Kennedy, and by her siblings Catherine, Daniel, and John Kennedy.  She is survived by her daughters Rose Mary (and David) Paquette and Maureen Reed (James Hart).  She is also survived by her grandsons Denis (and Jessie) Paquette, John (and Erin) Paquette, and Phillip (and Paige) Paquette, by her four great-granddaughters (Mckinley, Kyndle, Savannah, and Cadynce), as well as by many cherished nieces and nephews.
When Rose died at Rose Mary and David's home on November 21, 2015, those who loved her simply transferred her from their arms into the loving arms of her God.
Visitation will be Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Redwood Falls, MN; from 9 to 10 am. The funeral mass will be at 10 am at the church on Wednesday. Burial will be at 3 PM at the Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, MN. In lieu of flowers memorials preferred to Catholic Relief Services www.crs.org. The Dingmann Funeral Home of Luverne will be in charge of arrangements.

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