Rose Watt August 11, 1930 – September 20, 2023

Roselia Watt (nee: Dedio) passed away on September 20, 2023, in Edmonton, at age 93.

Rose is survived by two daughters: Yvonne (Bill Beacom) of Calgary and Karen (Ken Hudson) of Prince George; seven grandchildren: Katherine (John Hann) of New Brunswick, Jim Young of Rycroft, Jennifer (Lee Callow) of Peachland, Kevin Hudson of Vernon, Joel Hudson of Logan Lake, Holly (Richard O’Neill) of Edmonton and David Beacom (Amanda Stinson) of Fort Saskatchewan; ten great-grandchildren Kelsey (Callow) Larabie, David Hann, Ethan Callow, Taylor Callow, Duncan Young, Rebecca Hann, Daniel Hann, William Hann, Graydon Hann and
Avery De La Hoz-Beacom; and her sister: Susan (Paul Rouleau) of Stony Plain.

Rose was predeceased by her husband Harry in 1988, their daughter, Val Yatsula, in 2015 and their son, Barry Watt, in December 2022; her father, Peter Antony Dedio in 1979 and her mother, Stanislawa ‘Stella’ Dedio (nee: Jurgewicz) in 1994 and her siblings Anton ‘Tony’ Dedio in 1962, Agnes Sask in 2009, Joseph Edward ‘Ed’ Dedio in 2014 and Walter Dedio in 2016.

Rose’s parents emigrated to Canada, from Poland; Pete in 1914 and Stella in 1926. They met in 1927 and in April 1929, obtained a land grant for their homestead near Webster, Alberta. As the second of six children, Rose was born August 11, 1930. She grew up raising cattle for both milk and meat, keeping chickens, and growing crops. Her work ethic was developed on the farm and in the field as she not only cooked, cleaned, and tended her siblings but also planted, cut, stooked and threshed grain. Rose left home when she was sixteen and found work in
Bezanson, then Woking, and finally in Rycroft.

It was in Rycroft that Rose met Harry Watt when she was 21. Harry was driving truck for Sandal’s Transport. Their first date was November 11, 1952 and they married May 6, 1953 at the farm in Webster. Their family grew by four children over the next six years. Once the children were born, Harry and Rose moved into the home where Rose would live for more than sixty years.

Rose had a tremendous green thumb and produced a large vegetable garden and had lovely flowers every year. Summer suppers would include cucumbers in vinegar, fresh-picked lettuce with cream, vinegar and sugar, swiss chard, peas, beans and carrots. Christmas time brought a feast of turkey, kielbasa, perogies, cabbage rolls, dill carrots, beet pickles with lemon, mustard pickles, saskatoon and apple pies, shortbread with a candied cherry on top, butter tarts and carrot pudding with brown sugar sauce. Rose canned, pickled, fermented, baked or froze her bounty. The shelves in her basement were full of canned goods and she had a chest freezer filled with pies, tarts, muffins and berries. In the winter, when she couldn’t be ‘playing in the dirt’, she would knit. Generations have worn her mitts, toques, scarves, socks and baby sweaters.

Rose was still shovelling snow and then tending her gardens until she moved to a seniors complex in Edmonton. She left Rycroft in June 2022, at age 91, to be near Holly & Richard.

Rose’s death marks the end of an era. She lived to be our mom, our grandma and our great-grandma. But, she wasn’t just ours – she belonged to a little northern Alberta community and was quick to ‘adopt’ more grandchildren. When she went on her daily walks to the Post Office and around town, people would call out their greeting to ‘Grandma Rosie’.

In keeping with Rose’s wishes, her cremation will be followed by a private family graveside service. Rose will be laid to rest near her husband, son and daughter in the Spirit River Municipal Cemetery. In the future, when Rose’s family gathers, it will likely be Holly who makes the perogies!