Laura Braun (Weissert) Rosebaugh

Laura Braun Weissert Rosebaugh, 1930-2021

     In her own words, “She lived a long and happy life!” Born July 26, 1930 on a farm in western Pennsylvania, Laura Braun was the youngest of 6 children born to Wilson Jacob Weissert and Sarah Jane Patterson Weissert. She grew up during the Great Depression and remembers her three older brothers enlisting in military service during WWII. All of them returned from the war.
     Laura attended schools in Mars, Pennsylvania, achieving local renown as a soprano vocalist; she enjoyed debate and played trombone in the high school band. She married Howard Eugene Rosebaugh in 1947 and ably performed the duties of a pastor’s wife during their life together. The family story involved many moves around the United States, serving United Presbyterian churches in AZ, VT, NY, OH, PA, and WV, as well as US Navy chapels in NY, CA and AZ. She and Howard raised 4 children: David, Nancy, Mark and Catherine. A small-town girl, Laura enjoyed family vacations by car and trailer, traveling all over the United States and collecting stones and shells along the way.

     Once the children were grown, Laura pursued the dream of her youth by going to nursing school and graduating as a licensed practical nurse. She enjoyed her nursing practice in hospital, nursing homes, and in home health, where she felt privileged to be invited into people’s homes to help care for them.

     Laura enjoyed a lifelong love of music. In high school, she was part of a girls trio that won a state competition. She later took voice lessons at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and frequently offered special music at churches.

     Laura was blessed with a “green thumb,” planting flowers and growing roses outdoors and tending indoor plants for many years.

     Throughout her life, Laura was a careful and productive seamstress, making clothes for herself and her children and quilts for grandchildren. In retirement, she had another burst of creativity, making large crocheted rugs from cotton-knit t-shirts.

     Her last move was to North Carolina in 2016, where she lived close to her daughter Nancy and family, including Charles, James, Consuelo, Victoria and Eldon Nordan. Laura slipped away peacefully on October 7, 2021 after a brief illness. During her last three years, she was cared for by the loving and resilient staff of Adorable Senior Living in Hillsborough. Her wish was to be cremated; the family’s plan is to place her remains in the Mars PA town cemetery, where her parents, siblings and other family members were buried.