Rosemarie Juliana Gilpin

Rosemarie Juliana Gilpin February 25, 2026 Rosemarie Juliana Gilpin (née Schnoes) of Port Washington, New York, loving wife and devoted mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend, passed away peacefully on February 25, 2026, at the age of 90. Rosemarie was born in 1935 in Knetzgau, Germany to Hildegard Schnoes (Zehe) and Andreas Schnoes. She completed her formal education at a business training school in Schweinfurt, which was just beginning to accept girls. At 19, three years before her parents and brothers joined her, she emigrated to New York from Hamburg on the MS Italia, arriving after a 10-day voyage at Pier 96 on November 10, 1954, a day marked on her calendar every year. She kept strong ties to family and friends in Knetzgau for the rest of her life, visiting as often as she could and bringing her children and grandchildren along to show them the beauty of the place and people she used to call home. In New York, Rosemarie quickly found work with an importer in the Wall Street neighborhood and later took a job as a senior teletype operator in the Communications department of Lufthansa, where she made lifelong friends and met William F. Gilpin. They were married for 45 years until his death in 2008. With their Lufthansa flight benefits they travelled as often as they could. They treasured the possibility of new experiences and adventure that started as soon as you stepped onto a plane and instilled a curiosity about the world in their children and grandchildren, joyfully marking their atlas with everyone’s travels. Rosemarie’s garden was her sanctuary. She worked year-round in it, finding a space to transplant something to a better spot, keeping weeds at bay, or adding a new plant to fill a gap. In times of stress or trouble, Bill would drive her to a local garden nursery, and she would wander amongst the plants to find just the right one to bring home. Getting her hands in dirt was her salve throughout her life. Rosemarie was a keen observer of nature, noticing the beauty in things her children and grandchildren often missed. She could sit by the window or on her deck for half an hour or longer if it meant the chance to see a bluebird chick peek its head above its nest for only a second. Always looking to further her education, she was a frequent visitor to the galleries and museums of Manhattan, attending lectures and taking classes. She particularly loved taking the train into the city for a classical music performance or to attend an opera. After moving to Port Washington in 1967, Rosemarie became an active member of her community. Working for many years as a typesetter in the print shop at Schreiber High School, she carefully proofread every program for assemblies, plays, and graduations, becoming quite skilled at finding errors in her second language. She maintained close bonds with her colleagues throughout her retirement and made new friends through the library and senior center. She took great pleasure in long conversations with friends and family at her kitchen table. Above all, she exuded warmth, joy, and stability, and a fierce, selfless, optimistic spirit. She will be dearly missed by her daughters and their spouses, Heidi Gilpin and Lorne Falk of Hadley, MA; Denise Gilpin and Dan Burnham of Concord, MA; her grandchildren Andreas and Hanna Gilpin-Falk, and Henry Burnham; her brother Heinrich Schnoes and his family, her nieces and nephew, her cousins, and her incredible community of friends. Rosemarie is predeceased by her husband William and brother Horst. A memorial is being planned for late spring 2026. Details will be shared here when available. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to City Harvest.