Elise Marie Rothwell Senior
Elise Marie Rothwell Senior went to meet her Lord on February 20, 2020, while surrounded by her family at Regina Nursing Center in Norristown, where she had been a resident for the past year. Elise was born on March 22, 1921. She was the second oldest of the six children of Thomas A. and Marie (Brennan) Rothwell. She grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, graduating from Saint Francis of Assisi Grade School in 1935, and John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School, Philadelphia, in 1939. By the time Elise graduated from high school, her family was living in Immaculate Conception Parish in East Germantown. At Hallahan, Elise excelled academically and in the arts. She played the lead role of King Richard in the school’s production of Shakespeare’s Richard II in her senior year.
She was an accomplished singer, classically trained, and went on to sing publicly in Churches and other settings throughout the Philadelphia area for decades to come. In the mid-1940s, while singing at Immaculate Conception and in locations around Philadelphia, she became engaged to James Harwood “Hardy” Senior, recently home from his service in the US Navy in World War II.
The Senior family lived across the street from the Rothwells on Narragansett Street in East Germantown. The two were married in 1947. Their first child, James Brian Senior, was born in 1948 and their second, Myra Joan, in 1953. The family moved from Philadelphia in the mid-1950s and settled in Ambler. Their third child, Timothy Christian was born in 1960. In 1966, the family moved to their home in Upper Gwynned, where Elise continued to live for over fifty years. By the time of the birth of Timothy, Elise had begun her long career as an elementary school teacher. Throughout her lengthy career, Elise was an immensely popular, dedicated, creative, and talented teacher at Ancilae Academy, Wyncote, Saint John of the Cross, Roslyn, Saint Anthony of Padua, Amber, Saint Helena, Blue Bell, Saint Rose of Lima, North Wales, Norwood-Fontbonne Academy, Philadelphia, St. Lucy, Manayunk, and St. Titus, Norristown, from which she retired from teaching full-time in 1992. While raising her family and teaching, Elise earned a BA in Education from Gwynned Mercy University in 1971 and a Master of Arts in English from Beaver College (now Arcadia University). In 1964, Elise became the Director of Music at Saint Rose of Lima Church, North Wales, a position she would hold for over thirty-five (35) years. After retiring from teaching full-time, Elise remained active for another fifteen years serving as music teacher and again music director at Saint Rose of Lima for several years, and as a very popular substitute teacher in the schools of the North Penn School district until she was 87 years old. By that time, she had begun to experience the loss of her sight resulting from glaucoma which eventually resulted in her going blind.
Her husband, James Harwood, died of cancer in 1977. Elise’s son, James B. Senior married Ann Marie Oestreich in 1979, they have three children; Katherine Elise (husband Mark) Urbanski, who have two children, Henry Augustine and Alice Cornelia; Jaclyn Marie (husband Howard “Howie”) Brown, who have two children, Luke James, and Grace Catherine; Garrett Thomas Senior. Elise’s daughter, Myra Joan, married Ronald DiNicola in 1993, and they have one daughter, Myra Katharine. A stepgrandson, Matthew DiNicola, the son of Ronald, died in 2004. Elise’s son, Timothy, was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1985, and Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia in 2009. He currently serves as Rector of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook. Elise has been pre-deceased by her parents, Thomas A. and Marie (Brennan) Rothwell, her older sister, Sister St. Margaret Rothwell, SSJ, and younger siblings, Frances Mary Rothwell, Marie Rothwell Carter, Carolyn Rothwell McDermott, and Thomas A. Rothwell, Jr.
Relatives, friends, Reverand Clergy and Religious, are invited to call on Monday, February 24, 2020, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church 424 S. Main St. North Wales, PA wither Funeral Mass at 11:30 a.m. Interment Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Remembrances in her name may be made to the St. Charles Seminary 100 E. Wynnewood Road Wynnewood, PA 19096, would be appreciated. Photos and tributes may be shared at www.UrbanFuneralHome.com.