Rose Marie Gibbons, an educator who lived for many years in Coopersburg, died on Sept. 30 at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown. She turned 76 on Sept. 26. She was the beloved wife of John (Jack) Gibbons, with whom she shared a large family and a strong Catholic faith. She died of heart failure after battling Alzheimer's disease for several years.

She was born in Jacksonville, Florida, to Lena and Charles Regero, a lawyer. She was a local starlet, singing, acting and playing piano in many stage productions through college.

For 25 years, she was an academic dean at DeSales University. She held a masters degree in English and had a passion for teaching and encouraged many thousands of young adults over her career.
Rose Marie and Jack had known each other for two decades through their parish at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Limeport. After the loss of their spouses, they married on June 5, 2010. They enjoyed vacationing in Cape May, trips to Philadelphia, attending musicals and theatre productions and were active in their parish.

In 1959, she married A. Ernest Fisher III, an engineer and manager at Bethlehem Steel. Married for 22 years, they raised eight children in Quakertown.

She is survived by her children: Scott Fisher and his wife Christina and their daughters Taylor and Scotti, as well as Scott's daughter Angellika; Ian Fisher and his wife Selma Kalousek and their sons Malcolm and Nelson; Denise Shaffer and her husband Lamar Shaffer and their daughter Marla; Laura French and her sons David and Colin; Lisa Fisher and her husband Kim Moen and their daughter Kaitlyn, as well as Lisa's son Kevin Brumbaugh; Kayla Patenaude and her children Genevieve, Sam, and Olivia; Billy Fischer and his wife Elizabeth, and their children Sara, Timothy, and Zeckariah, as well as Billy's daughter Nikki Walton.

She is also survived by Jack's children: Michael Gibbons; Father John GIbbons; Chris Gibbons; Gregory Gibbons, Matt Gibbons: and Amy Claire Titzer. Rose Marie enjoyed eight grandchildren with her husband: Kevin, Bradley, Bridget, Katie, Isabelle, Miles, Erin, and Sean.

Also surviving are her dear friend and sister-in-law Patricia Eyster; niece Victoria Deem and her husband Bob Deem; niece Lynn Tenant and her husband Jack Tennant, all of Florida.

She is preceded in death by James F. Giltrap III, her husband from Sept. 26, 1985 until his death on Oct. 17, 2007. Mr. Giltrap was an official court stenographer in Northampton County and Philadelphia.

She is also preceded in death by daughter Maria Elena and son Timothy; brother Jeff Eyster of Jacksonville, Florida, and niece, Juliet Eyster.

Her service will be held Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 5050 St. Joseph's Road, Coopersburg. The wake is at 9 am. The mass will be held 10. Burial service will immediately follow mass at Calvary Cemetery at the church. A viewing will be held 6pm to 8pm Wednesday October 5th, 2016, at the Norcross-Weber Funeral Home, 101-B North Main St. Coopersburg, PA.

Rose Marie rescued many cats over the years. In honor of her love for misplaced animals, donations may be sent to Peaceable Kingdom, a non-profit organization for animal rescue, at 1049 MacArthur Road, Whitehall, PA 18052. www.lvpeaceablekingdom.info