Rose Marie Austin passed away on March 29, 2021 at the age of 88 years, 2 months, and 25 days.  Visitation will be held from 5:00-7:00 PM, Sunday, April 4 at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Centerville, SD followed by a Prayer Service at 7:00 PM.  Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 2:00 PM, Monday, April 5 at Good Shepherd Catholic Church.

Rose Marie Bertrand was born January 4, 1933 to Leonard and Hilda (DeBoer) Bertrand in Centerville, SD. On April 30, 1951, she was united in marriage to Lester Austin. Eight children were born to this union: Mike, Tom, Dean, Shelly, Kent, Lisa, Brad, and Tim.  Rose Marie attended one year and one summer school of college at USD.

Rose Marie spent most of her married life on the farm. She raised and processed chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys, sold eggs to the Viborg Creamery and Don Brown's Store in Centerville, and made pies daily for the restaurant in town. Rose Marie made lefsa for Looks Market in Sioux Falls and took holiday orders using over 400 pounds of potatoes in a season. She delivered many meals to the field and baked a cake every day. Rose Marie loved crossword puzzles and read the newspaper every day.   She was a passionate Centerville Tornado fan and an avid Minnesota Twins and Vikings fan.

In 1998, Rose Marie took a position with Active Generations of Sioux Falls as the Assistant Cook for the Centerville Senior Center/Meals on Wheels serving Centerville and Beresford. She soon became Head Cook and then Site Manager. She worked there for 28 years before retiring at age 83 on January 17, 2016. Lester and Rose Marie served as leaders for the Centerville Senior Citizen Center for 20 years.

Rose Marie was very active as a volunteer and a member of the community. Rose Marie and Lester charted the Southeast Turner County Food Pantry and ran it for over 30 years. She was a lifetime member of Good Shepherd Catholic Church and served on the Good Shepherd Catholic Church Altar Society.  She was a member and President of the Centerville Garden Club and a member of the Centerville Red Hats Society. She was Secretary of the Centerville Centennial Committee, Chair of the Centerville All Class Reunion (1976) and Co-Chair of the Centerville All Class Reunion (2008). She was a member and served as President of the Centerville Bowling League for many years and was inducted to the Centerville Bowling Hall of Fame. In 2019, Rose Marie was awarded Volunteer of the Year from the Centerville Development Corporation.

Everyone knows Rose Marie as "Grandma Rosie". Even kids and adults who are not in the immediate family adopted her as their Grandma. Her popcorn balls were a town favorite on Halloween.   Grandma Rosie attended every school and church event that she could for her kids and grandkids, even traveling to many college basketball games. Grandma Rosie loved to play games of all kinds with the kids and holds the record for number of losses in Old Maid.   Her favorite time was spent holding and rocking the babies.

Rose Marie is survived by her eight children, Mike (Kay) Austin, Centerville, Tom (LeAnne) Austin, Centerville, Dean (Mavis) Austin, Centerville, Shelly Landeen, Beresford, Kent (Kathy) Austin, Centerville, Lisa (Randy) Austin, Centerville, Brad (Barb) Austin, Brookings, and Tim (Jackie) Austin, Centerville; 25 grandchildren; 37 great-grandchildren; 4 sisters, Marilyn (Clay) Smebakken, Reston, VA, Barbara (Burdette) Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD, Diane (Al) Forbes III, Monument CO, and Pam (Barry) Samuelcek, Kansas City, MO; brother, Chuck (Deb) Bertrand, Centerville, and many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Lester; grandson, Dawson Knudson; sister, Carol Lee Nygard; and son-in-law, Gerald Landeen.