Fortified with the Sacraments of the Holy Mother Church, ROSE MARIE CHRISTIAN

passed away peacefully on November 13, 2023. Rose was born March 13, 1932, to Steve and Lucy Battisto and raised in North Little Rock. She attended the Cathedral School before attending and graduating from Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock. Rose married Richard C. Christian of Helena in 1952 while they attended the University of Arkansas Little Rock. After bringing four children into this world, Rose found her vocation in teaching. She taught at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Helena and at Helena-West Helena Public Schools while taking college correspondence courses and summer school, completing her master’s degree in education at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. She taught in the North Little Rock School District until her retirement.

Rose was a strong, kind, and generous woman with deep Catholic faith. As a teacher, she touched many lives and undoubtedly influenced much success. She was an amazing mother, raising three challenging children and one perfect one. She is adored by all four. After the passing of her husband in 1983, she lived independently until a brief hospitalization immediately prior to her passing. She was pleased to have lived for so long without relying on aid from others. In her retirement years, she enjoyed reading and romantic movies. She loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren immeasurably. She also loved a good day at the casino or horse track and traveling with her AARP buddies. She knew how to laugh, had a great sense of humor and a brilliantly beautiful smile that lit up those around her. The world will be a little darker without her.

She is preceded in death by parents, Steve and Lucy (Ouletta) Battisto, her husband, Richard C. Christian, her five siblings, and one grandson, Joshua Geraldson. She is survived by: four children, Richard and wife Nancy of Benton, Debra of South Padre Island, Texas, Ken and wife Sarah of St. Louis, and Mark and wife Cindy of Memphis; four grandchildren, Gordon, Taylor, Cole and Mackenzie; and six great grandchildren, Barrett, Mitchell, Carter, Vera Mae, William, and Louise.

Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 2:30 p.m., Friday, November 17, 2023, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, North Little Rock. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery, Little Rock. Memorials may be made to Mount St. Mary Academy. Guestbook at www.SmithFamilyCares.com.