(1939-2025)

Just as five-year-old Rosalie Esquerra was getting ready to start kindergarten in her hometown of Kingman, Arizona, in 1944, the Adrian Dominicans arrived to start a school at St. Mary Parish there. The experience of being taught by the Sisters very quickly set Rosalie on her path to entering the Congregation.

Rosalie was born on July 25, 1939, to Raymond and Eva (Torres) Esquerra. She was the third of the couple’s thirteen children; her siblings were Roger, Raymond, Donald, Richard, Mary Louise, Regina, Robert, Roland, Rebecca, Randolph, Ronald, and Rachel.

Raymond was a native of Parker, Arizona, while Eva was born in Kingman. Her mother, Luisa, was a talented artist who, according to Sister Rosalie’s autobiography, was often referred to as “The Grandma Moses of Arizona.”

Raymond and Eva met while he was visiting cousins in Kingman. After the pair married, they settled there, living in a house that Raymond, who worked as a contractor, built next to Eva’s mother’s home. 

Rosalie had a happy childhood filled with extended family, many family friends, and music. Raymond played the guitar and loved to sing, and there were regular neighborhood parties – in Spanish, pachangas – at which the group would sing and dance the night away.

Once Rosalie entered school, she found the Sisters at St. Mary School “so joy-filled, gracious and loving,” and from the very beginning of her education she wanted to be like them. “I would often dress as a sister, wearing one of my mother’s skirts as a habit and a towel as a head covering,” she wrote in her autobiography. “One of my greatest thrills was to be selected as a seventh grader to crown the Blessed Mother during our May Crowning ritual, an honor usually reserved for an eighth grader.”

In January 1955, while she was still only fifteen years old, she wrote to Mother Gerald asking to be admitted to the Congregation, and at the end of May, after completing her freshman year at Mohave County Union High School, she headed for Adrian accompanied by members of Sister Madonna Marie Black’s family, two of whom were also entering the Congregation at this time (in all, three of Sister Madonna Marie’s siblings also became Adrian Dominican Sisters, but she was the only one who remained in religious life).

Read more about Sister Rosalie (PDF)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Anderson-Marry Funeral Home, Adrian.

Sister's Memorial Card (PDF)

Vigil and Funeral Recordings

Note: To view recordings with closed captioning, they must be viewed on our public video library rather than through the links below.

Recording of Sister Rosalie's Vigil Service - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)

Recording of Sister Rosalie's Funeral Mass - After clicking the link, download the recording by right-clicking on the video choosing "Save video as." Worship Aid (PDF)

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