Rosemarie Wertschek

Rosemarie died in hospital on November 6 after her illness made it impossible for her to be at home with her brother, John, as she had wished. She was age 76. Rosemarie and John were the children of a Croatian family who spent several years after World War II in a camp for displaced persons in Linz, Austria. When they received permission to emigrate to Canada, Rosemarie's father (John) came out first to Winnipeg. A year later, her mother (Eva) and the two children made the memorable voyage. Thereafter, travel by water was an ordeal to be avoided at all costs.

Rosemarie remembered learning English in a one-room school that accommodated seven grades. By the end of the first year, Rosemarie and John were fully conversant in English. (They also spoke Croatian and German). After a few years, Rosemarie's father, a skilled carpenter, decided to start building houses. The family moved from Winnipeg to Richmond, B.C., where Rosemarie and her brother graduated from high school in 1967. Both enrolled at UBC. Rosemarie studied medieval history and was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to attend Cambridge University for a graduate degree. After a year of coal strikes and electricity shortages, however, Rosemarie's practical side led her to discontinue the Scholarship and join her friend Mary Newbury in the study of law at UBC.

In 1975, she began articling at the small firm of Shrum, Liddle and Hebenton. It needed a tax lawyer. Partners such as Mitchell Gropper pushed her to overcome her (then) shy and aloof nature. Within a few years Rosemarie was one of the leading tax lawyers in Canada and an advisor to many growing corporations in the Province. When Shrum Liddle morphed into McCarthy Tetrault, Rosemarie participated in the administration of the Vancouver office of the large Toronto firm in addition to her very active practice.

In her spare time, Rosemarie built a beautiful house and garden in the Southlands area and invited her parents to live with her. She was particularly close to her mother, a warm and wonderful person who always welcomed her children's friends with irresistible Austrian food. Sadly, Rosemarie's father died shortly after Rosemarie retired from practice, but her mother lived until 2016.

Rosemarie was a devout Catholic, and was appointed a Lieutenant of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 2016. In that capacity, she enjoyed travelling twice to Jerusalem. She also contributed much assistance to the local Roman Catholic community in general.

Near the end, Rosemarie received unstinting kindness from her friend Eric Andrew and from a series of caregivers, including in particular, Mercy, for which Rosemarie was most grateful.

A Funeral Mass will take place at Sts. Peter & Paul Parish on Monday, November 24th at 11:00am. Burial at Gardens of Gethsemani Catholic Cemetery will follow at 1:30pm.