Rosa Marie Schmidt

Rosa Marie Schmidt (née Salomon) completed her assignment in this life on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. Born on August 15, 1929 in Knauthain, outside Leipzig, Germany, to Anna-Marie Uhlig and Ernst Karl Fritz Salomon, Rosa grew up in an area where neighbors knew neighbors and helped one another. She was always a helper to others and a problem solver. She attended and did well in school in mathematics and in learning Russian. She enhanced her skills as a sales person which she used in many aspects of her life. In her mid-20s, she re-ignited a friendship with her best friend’s brother, Gerhard Werner Schmidt. They were quietly married on January 18, 1955. They were able to escape from East Germany and began building a life in West Germany. Their only daughter, Gabriele, was born in Düsseldorf, Germany on July of 1957.

Gerhard had a burning desire to take his little family to the land of dreams – America. The small family emigrated to Liverpool, England for a short time, then onto Montreal and Quebec, Canada, and eventually into America and settled in Richmond, Virginia. Rosa did many things to help her family. She quickly learned English and found a job as a sales person at the J C Penney department store at Willow Lawn. Then to earn more money so the family could afford a house, Rosa began a job in an envelope factory, working from August through December each year. Rosa was a master gardener and that was always reflected in the beautiful flowers that bloomed in her flowerbeds. Rosa finally found a job she loved when the family moved to the East End of Richmond and she began work in the Garden Shop of the Kmart on Nine Mile Road. She loved teaching others about how to grow the different flowers, trees and bushes offered for sale. When the plant selling season ended, Rosa was asked to take over the Sock Department inside the Kmart. She loved organizing and restocking and helping customers find the things they needed. After two years there, the store manager asked her to take over the Personnel Manager position because of her exceptional people and organizational skills. It was a difficult transition but Rosa figured out, with the help of her work colleagues, how to make it work. She was loved by so many of the staff because she worked with them on many issues. Even during all her working years, Rosa and her family always had a dachshund as part of their family. She loved dogs and cats and horses and parrots and snakes!

Throughout her life, Rosa loved being with family and friends. She and Gerhard always went to places that they could take their daughter with them. This included visiting many places around Richmond and many visits to friends.

Then after 10 years at Kmart, Rosa began a small silk flower business out of her home. She was creative and always came up with new ideas. She sold her homemade items at small craft shows and then graduated to the larger inside mall craft shows. She developed a large following and sold out at almost every craft show.

After Rosa’s husband, Gerhard died, she lost her desire in the silk flower business. After two years in their last home, Rosa sold the home and moved into an apartment at Mill Trace Village Apartments in Mechanicsville. There she met a wonderful woman from Ireland and they became fast friends. Because each had sufficient funds, they began traveling the world together. Rosa went on Caribbean cruises (her favorite) and made many ship and airplane trips to Europe – Germany, Ireland, England, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. She also loved visiting Puerto Rico, Costa Rica in Central America and the Western United States. After 14 years of traveling the world, Rosa decided she would do day trips to explore Virginia and the surrounding areas.

At age 88, Rosa decided it was time to give up her apartment and move to an independent living apartment at Imperial Plaza. She eventually moved to the Assisted Living area there until the facility changed ownership in 2021. Then Rosa moved to an Assisted Living facility near her daughter in West Haven, Utah. At 91 years old, Rosa was one of the oldest residents of the facility but her big personality still shined through as she battled dementia and had several incidents of lost balance. Even with the dementia, her feisty personality came through and she was loved by so many at the facility.

Her family would like to thank and express our gratitude to the director, nurse and staff at the Lotus Park Senior Living Center in West Haven, Utah and the A+ Hospice nurses and staff for their exemplary care of Rosa during her final years.

Rosa is preceded in death by her loving husband, Gerhard Werner Schmidt and her sister, Irene Salomon. She is survived by her daughter, Gabriele Schmidt Robertson, and her much loved son-in-law, Thomas Parry Robertson, Jr., who live in West Haven, Utah.

In lieu of flowers, as Rosa loved animals so much, she and her family ask that contributions be made to a local animal rescue shelter of choice to help those animals find their forever homes.

Visitation will be held at Bennett Funeral Homes, 8014 Lee-Davis Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23111 on Friday, October 31, 2025 from 3 pm to 4 pm with a Celebration of Life immediately following at 4 pm.

Arrangements entrusted to Lindquist’s Roy Mortuary.

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