Rosemary Helen (Lenz) Biesiot
, 92, passed away August 5, 2017 at her home in Liberty Center, Ohio. She was born October 7, 1924 in Ellsworth, Minnesota, the youngest child of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Eichens) Lenz.
Rosemary was valedictorian of her class at Ellsworth Catholic High School. She graduated from St. Mary School of Nursing, Mayo Clinic Hospital, in Rochester, Minnesota and worked for several years on the neurology ward and as a surgical nurse for the doctors at Mayo at St. Mary. She later transferred to the St. Cloud Veterans’ Hospital in Minnesota, where she was in charge of the surgery department.
She instituted the Mayo Clinic technique of keeping the operating room sterile for all the operations with just a center field for the equipment for each individual operation, that allowed operations to follow in rapid succession. After her marriage and after more than a decade as a stay at home mother, Rosemary returned to nursing in 1969 at the Wood County (Ohio) Public Health Department, where she started the first child health clinic. In 1972 she accepted the position of school nurse for Lakota School District (Ohio). She was nominated by the Lakota district to be Ohio’s representative school nurse in the early 1980s.
Rosemary married Anthony “Tony” Biesiot in 1949 at St. Mary Catholic Church in Ellsworth. The couple moved numerous times related to Tony’s work, living in St. Cloud, Minnesota; Marquette; Graceton, Minnesota; Garden Prairie, Illinois; Richland Center, Wisconsin; Montevideo, Minnesota; Sugar Grove, Illinois; Aurora, Illinois; Lititz, Pennsylvania and Bowling Green, Ohio. After retirement, the couple lived in Presque Isle; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and finally Liberty Center.
Rosemary was predeceased by her parents, four brothers, and five sisters. She is survived by her husband Tony; five daughters, Patricia Biesiot (Shiao Wang) of Long Beach, Mississippi, Elizabeth Biesiot (John Storb) of Denver, Colorado, Rita Biesiot (Patty Winter) of Louisville, Kentucky, Mary Donald (Ray) of Liberty Center, and Joanne Hayward of Luckey, Ohio
Visitation was held Tuesday, August 8 at Dunn Funeral Home, located in the Historical District of Bowling Green at 408 West Wooster St. A Mass of Christian Burial was held Wednesday, August 9 at St. Patrick Catholic Church (Providence), 14010 Old U.S.-24 Grand Rapids, Ohio with the Rev. David Tscherne officiating. Interment followed at Heath-Colton Cemetery in Liberty Center, OH.
In lieu of floral tributes, the family requests donations be directed to St. Patrick Catholic Church (Providence) in Grand Rapids.
To share an online condolence with the Biesiot family, please visit www.dunnfuneralhome.com