Rose was born to Estevan and Sophia Gallegos on Oct. 7, 1924, the fifth of eight siblings, in Trujillo, N.M., where she was raised.
Rose had an elementary education, yet taught herself to speak, read and write in English, her second language, cook, sew, iron and drive, then stressed the importance of education to her children.
Most of all, Rose had a devout faith in her God, who gave her unconditional love in her heart, which she shared with everyone she met through her beautiful smile and kind words. She had no favorites, she loved and treated everyone the same.
Rose developed a work ethic at a young age and often said how “tough” she was from “working like a man in the fields,” and helping her father work a team of horses, cutting and splitting wood.
In 1956, Rose married Roberto “Bob” Gutierrez, and four children were born in the marriage: Roman, Robert “Bobby,” Jose Estevan “Joe‚“ and Priscilla Marie. The couple also raised their niece, Margie, from a small child through graduation, loving her as their own.
Rose was a homemaker who worked cleaning houses and the doctors’ offices of Dr. Earl Ryan and Dr. David Eskelson, the dentist’s office, the office of the late attorney Frank Cooley and ironed clothes for friends to help make ends meet.
She also babysat for the families of Ryan, Sullivan, Nieslanik, Blanke, Whalin and others, loving and treating them all like her own. She often said because of her God, she never lacked for anything.
Rose was an inspiration to her children and she enjoyed watching them wrestle and cheer, attending all their matches, then followed the teams her sons coached. She watched thousands of matches and attended more than 30 state wrestling tournaments.
She loved family gatherings, visiting with family and friends, singing, dancing and going to church. Rose was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church for more than 50 years.
She was preceded in death by: her parents; her brothers, Joe and Trinidad Gallegos; her sisters, Louisa Aragon, Mela Garcia and Rita Garza; and a granddaughter, Natasha Gutierrez.
Rose is survived by: her children, Margie (Richard) Carrillo, Roman (Vicki) Gutierrez, Bobby (Wendy) Gutierrez, Joe (Kari) Gutierrez and Priscilla Kilibarda; 11 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
