Rosie Lee Wartts

One thing that everybody can agree on about Rosie is that she had an impeccable
sense of style. Another endearing (and also funny) quality that no one could miss was
that she never met a mirror she didn’t like. Rosie would laugh out loud whenever she
told the story about a close, elegantly dressed friend whom she admired. One day her
friend said to her, “Rosie, I feel like if you’re not going to stay in fashion, you might as
well be dead.” Rosie took the message to heart. Always outfitted in chic attire, her
bright brown eyes shining with mischief, and wearing a coquettish smile that
announced that “the princess” had arrived at last, Rosie turned heads in any room she
walked into.
But she was also big-hearted and generous to family, friends, and strangers alike. She
loved organizing gala family events, fish fries in honor of her Daddy’s birthday, and her
spaghetti was legendary. She was also very fond of animals, for which she was a
dedicated and passionate provider, protector, and advocate. Like it or not, family
members and friends had to just “get over it” when it came to accepting their adopted
kinship as “aunt” or “uncle” to her two beloved cats, Kringer and Midnight, both of whom
she rescued from the streets.
Rosie Lee Wartts was born on December 8, 1947 to Charlie (deceased) and Lillie
Wartts. She was the fourth child in a family of seven children, including four brothers
and two sisters, one of which (Patricia) died in infancy. An honor student, Rosie
graduated from Vashon High School in 1966, and was awarded a full scholarship to
Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa. She subsequently transferred to St. Louis University
where she earned a B.S. Degree in Special Education and later a Master’s Degree in
Education and Counseling from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).
After graduation, she went to work for the St. Louis Public School System as a teacher
and counselor for several years before accepting a management position as a financial
analyst with American Express Financial Advisors, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
However, after an eight-year stint in the corporate world where she was on track for a
vice-presidency, she experienced a strong desire to come home to be near her family. A
Daddy’s girl from her heart, Rosie loved all of her family members dearly, and was
especially proud of her siblings and their accomplishments. In 1995, she made the
decision to return to St. Louis and to the public school system as a Psychological
Examiner, a position from which she retired in 2008.
Another of Rosie’s gifts was her passionate heart for God from a young age, and she
confessed her belief in Christ while attending Mercy Seat Baptist Church, where she
was baptized. Our shining star, Rosie leaves to forever cherish her memory a daughter,
Kimberly Wartts; her two beloved grandsons, Dahmar Wartts-Smiles and Cairen Gant;
also her loving mother, Lillie Wartts; her big sister, Bobbie Jean; and her four brothers

Andrew (Doris), Charles (Gleevia), Eddie (Cheryl), and Joseph (Alicia). Also, Rosie will
forever occupy a special place in the lives of the two delights of her heart, her great-
granddaughters Louisa Akers and Kadence Edwards. Finally, she will be missed by all
those whose lives she touched with her warm spirit and generosity, including a host of
special aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Rosie Lee Wartts, please visit our floral store.