Rose Militello May 10, 1935 - February 25, 2021, Cary, NC.
Blanca Rosa Cárdenas was born in Mexico City on May 10, 1935 – A day that would fittingly often fall on the American Mother’s Day holiday. She was the youngest of 5 children born to Maria Tellas and Porfirio Cárdenas. Rose lost her mother at the age of 12, and while this was an unimaginable tragedy, she found joy in her family’s strength. She grew incredibly close to her father and older sister Maria de Jesus (Chucha). She summered with her father’s family near Guadalajara.
She met and married Ronald Militello after a whirlwind romantic adventure. Ron and a fellow teacher (Al Tessmer) at Lincoln Park High School went to Mexico City for spring break in 1967. A friend’s sister in Mexico City worked for American Airlines and arranged the travel including finding an acquaintance who had a car: Rosa. The group explored Mexico City together and then Ron and AI drove to Alcapulco. When Al fell ill, Rosa and a friend travelled to Alcapulco to help. Throughout the summer of ’67, they exchanged letters—which had to be translated. By Christmas, Ron was back in Mexico City. Ron proposed on a rooftop restaurant with a live performance by José Feliciano. Within days they were married and honeymooned in Puebla. They flew back to Detroit and married again.
Rose came to the U.S. knowing very little English; she only knew Ron and her beloved cousin Reyna who went to the wedding and met, then later married another Lincoln Park teacher (Walter Cheslick). The extended Militello clan welcomed Rose into the family. We now look back at this and are amazed by the courage behind this journey and experience.
In 1973, Ron and Rose moved to Menominee, Michigan, where they would reside for 15 years. This is where they raised two boys, John Michael—“my artist” and Matthew – “my heart,” as she would say. She often talked about how different her two boys were and how special that was. She could be often overheard saying, “I love you for what you are!”
Rose made friends easily. She loved to laugh and to be surrounded by her “family,” a broad term in her world. To stay close to her family in Mexico, the family made trips from Northern Michigan to Mexico (in a Ford LTD station wagon). Rose’s bond with her brothers, Memo, and Porfirio, and their families, remained strong no matter the distance. Rose encouraged these relationships across the border to flourish and deepen. Her sons’ strong bond with their Mexican cousins is evidence of this desire to bring family together. She loved to share stories of her youth, her family, and their love of gathering and laughter that endured through her life. Rose returned to Mexico for the final time in 2017.
Rose was also an artist. She had raw artistic talent, which you can see in her oil paintings. She spent as much time as she could with her boys and their families. She treated her daughters-in-law as daughters. For her beloved grandchildren, she told them jokes, sang to them in Spanish, fed them amazing food, and most of all made them feel special and loved for who they are. Unconditionally. She also gave to others. She volunteered at the migrant farms in Wisconsin, and she opened her home as a foster family to foreign exchange students and high school students in need. Perhaps the best expression of who she was came through in the family’s nightly dinners that often included the neighborhood kids on 7th Street in Menominee - all clamoring for her authentic Mexican food.
Ron and Rose later moved to Alba and then Traverse City, Michigan, finally settling in Raleigh, NC, in 2011.
Rose is celebrated by her friends and family in two beautiful countries. Her six grandchildren in the United States and nieces and nephews in Mexico will ensure her stories continue to be told.
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