Obituary of Rosalie Szeman
Rosalie (Waypa) Szeman, age 79, passed away on Sunday, November 27, 2022, at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Somerset in Somerville. Born in Kingston, PA, to Michael and Adele (Agurkis) Waypa, Rosalie grew up in Central New Jersey. Rosalie received her bachelor’s degree in science from Douglas College at Rutgers University. She later went on to earn her master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Delaware.
After meeting her husband, they moved to scenic Martinsville in 1971 and have lived there ever since. She has been a communicant of the Blessed Sacrament RC Church in Martinsville.
Rosalie began her career as a microbiologist at the Veterans Hospital in East Orange and then at Elizabeth General Hospital. Her greatest joy was raising her two children, Nicole and Janos. As the children began to grow, Rosalie went to work for Cuisinart as a product demonstrator. Once they were older, she went back to work at the Veterans Hospital until her retirement.
Rosalie was an active member of P.E.O. - Chapter I, New Brunswick. She loved flowers and gardening and was a member of the Bound Brook Garden Club. She also completed the Somerset County Master Gardener program, volunteering at both the Somerset County 4-H Fair and the Master Gardner helpline. Rosalie was an avid reader, loved cooking and watching any British murder mystery. Family meant more to her than anything else in the world, especially her four grandchildren – her angels. Many will remember her enthusiastically cheering for them at all their events.
She is predeceased by her beloved husband of 46 years, Janos, in 2015.
Rosalie is survived by her children Nicole Walls and her husband Matthew and Janos Szeman and his wife Maria Mahajan; four grandchildren Matty Walls, Noelle (Ethan), Eva, and Lisette Szeman. She is also survived by a brother Theodore Waypa and a nephew Michael Waypa.
As a breast cancer survivor, the family requests that donations be made to Susan G. Komen in her memory.
A visitation will be held on Friday, December 2, 2022, from 5 to 8 pm at Higgins Home for Funerals, 752 Mountain Blvd. Watchung NJ 07069. A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2022, at 10 am at Blessed Sacrament RC Church in Martinsville. Cremation services are private.
