Mary Ann Rosner

Mary Ann (Oprisu) Rosner was born on August 25, 1933 and died at age 90 on July 7, 2024 of congestive heart failure. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Paul, her parents Nick and Anna Oprisu, brothers Nick and Emil, sister Letitia (Tootsie) Gindele, and daughter-in-law Tori Rosner. Mary Ann was born and raised in Terre Haute, IN and graduated from Garfield High School. Her mother emigrated from Romania when she was 14 years old, so Mary Ann learned much about the culture and language and participated with her family in the Romanian Orthodox Church. As an adult, Mary Ann had the special opportunity to go on a trip to visit Romania with her mother, and see where her mother grew up and meet extended family.

She attended Miami University (Oxford, OH) and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dietetics. After interning for a year in Oregon, she moved to Cleveland, OH where she was employed as a dietician by Cleveland Clinic for approximately two years. When her father grew ill, she returned to Indiana to be closer to her parents. She lived in Indianapolis with her brother Emil and worked at Methodist Hospital. 

While waiting in Speedway for the bus to go to work, Mary Ann would sometimes stop into the Rosner Pharmacy Drugstore where she met pharmacist Paul Rosner in October 1960. Both being baseball fans, they made a bet about who was going to win the World Series that fall. After the Pirates won, Mary Ann “lost” the bet and took Paul out on a date. That was the start of a long and loving relationship. They married on May 5, 1962 at St. Christopher Catholic Church and were married for 60 years until Paul passed away in January 2023.

Prior to her marriage, Mary Ann joined the Catholic church. She was a devout woman of faith who prayed every day with her husband and rarely missed a weekly mass. She and Paul began attending St. Gabriel Catholic Church when it was founded in 1963 and supported this parish for 58 years. They were major contributors when St. Gabriel Church added their new sanctuary. She served as a eucharistic minister and money counter on a regular basis. She enjoyed volunteering for St. Gabriel’s International Festival every June. 

Mary Ann and Paul had four children: daughter Paula Carman (Kevin) of Atlanta, GA, and three sons: Philip (Stephanie) of Idaho Falls, ID, Kevin (Carmela) of Indianapolis and Kristopher (Christine) of South Portland, ME. They raised all four children in their Speedway home and taught them the Catholic faith. With her first child, Mary Ann quit her job and focused on raising her children. The children were very active in sports and Boy/Girl Scouts activities that she supported and volunteered for. She and Paul enjoyed taking their children on vacations to national parks and the beach and for weekends in Cincinnati to attend Reds baseball games and visit Kings Island.

Mary Ann regularly volunteered at the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Gennesaret Free Clinic as well as spent time reading with students at the local elementary school. Mary Ann loved cooking and baking, and was known for her Romanian foods of sarmale, mamaliga, and potica bread. She was an avid sports fan and watched many football, basketball and baseball games. Her favorite teams were the Colts, the Pacers, and Reds; she also followed college teams of Miami, Purdue and Butler Universities.

In the early 1990’s, Mary Ann and Paul moved from Speedway to their home near Eagle Creek Park. They relished taking long walks together while holding hands in their neighborhood and at the park. After Paul retired, they took a number of trips around the country to visit their adult children and growing families. They also discovered their love for faraway travel and visited locations including Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Tahiti, Italy, the Greek Isles, and Ireland as well as a cruise of the Mediterranean Sea. Mary Ann was devoted to her husband Paul and they rarely did activities separately. She very much missed him after he passed and longed to be with him. Mary Ann is survived by her four children, their spouses, 13 grandchildren including Nicholas, Marianne, Danielle, Erin, Joe, Brady, Chase, Isaiah, Jonah, Erica (Luke), Jason, Quinnton, & Rayannah, and one great-grandchild Paul.

Services will be held on Friday, July 26 with a funeral mass at 10 a.m. (with visitation from 9-10 am) at St. Gabriel Catholic Church and an interment of ashes at 2 p.m. at Roselawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Terre Haute, IN. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to either Gennesaret Free Clinics (online at www.gennesaret.org /mail to 615 North Alabama St., Suite 136, Indianapolis, IN 46204) or to St. Vincent de Paul Society Indianapolis (online at www.svdpindy.org /mail to 3001 E. 30th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46218).