Rosietta Marie Jackson Thomas, age 74, of South Roberts Road, Dunkirk, NY passed away Saturday (Nov. 24, 2012) after a brief illness at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY.
She was born Dec. 15, 1937, the daughter of Eddy Jackson and her adoptive parents, Sam and Margaret Hollins in Collegeville, Tenn. After graduation from School No. 10, she graduated from the Buffalo School of Beauty Culture and also attended Fredonia State College.
She was the first African-American woman to be hired at the James Dress Shop. A former employee of Kraft Foods, she was a retired employee of the SUNY at Fredonia. She also owned and operated Rose's Beauty Salon. After her retirement, she later went on to work as "Grandma Rose" at the Connections North Day Care Center. She was well known in the community and loved talking about the word of the Lord.
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Rosietta Marie Jackson Thomas
She was an active member of the Friendship Baptist Church for 45 years, serving on the Church Board, as a Sunday School Teacher for adults, as Chairman of the Trustee Board, was involved in the DYO Baptist Youth Organization as starting a Woman's Bible Study Group. She also was a member of the Dunkirk Core Area Preservation Committee, a Past President of the Mothers of Unity, the NAACP Project Brother and served as Grand Marshal for the Juneteenth celebration. She also enjoyed sewing and making dolls.
She leaves to cherish her memories five loving children, Marcella (Ernie) Krzyzanowski, John Michael Thomas, Rudolph Tho-mas, Randolph Thomas, all of Dunkirk, and Jerome Thomas of Jamestown, NY; three sisters, Carolyn (Lester) Shomore of Pensacola, Fla., Leetta (LeRoy) Henderson of Florida and Diana (Raymond C.) Dun-can of Rhode Island; three brothers, Homer (Eunice) Harvey of Rochester, NY, Ed Jackson of Florida and John Hollins of Dunkirk. A host of grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and close friends also survive.
In addition to her father and adoptive parents, she was predeceased by her daughter, Martha Hollins.
Visitation will be on Fri-day, Nov. 30, 2012 from 1-4 p.m. at the Newman Funeral Home Inc. A funeral service will be held at 4 p.m. The Rev. Early G. Wall-er Jr. will officiate. Private interment will be in Willowbrook Park Cemetery at the convenience of the family. Flowers gratefully declined.
