Obituary of Rose Frances McArdle

Rose Frances McArdle, 93, of Forest Hills, New York passed away peacefully on December 5, 2020 in Ozanam Hall recuperating from surgery, following a fall.

A mass of Christian burial will be held at Our Lady of Mercy, Forest Hills, with Monsignor John A. McGuirl officiating. Burial will follow at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. Arrangements and memorial page through Fox Funeral Home. There will be no visitation service, owing to COVID risk advisories.

Rose Frances was born in Brooklyn to Daniel J. McArdle and Mary McArdle (nee Waldron) on June 30, 1927 and was raised in her family home at 69-32 Loubet Street in Forest Hills. She and her sisters also spent several summers at Lake Willoughby in Vermont.

Rose Frances attended Marywood Academy in Pennsylvania and earned a Bachelor's Degree from St. John's University of New York. Her post-graduate studies included: Journalism at Columbia University, the New School, and Hunter College as well as courses in English, Art, and Fashion Design at Hunter College, School of Industrial Design, Traphagen School of Fashion Design, and City College of New York.

Starting in the early 1950's, Rose Frances joined the ranks of pioneering career women, applying her writing skills in the field of public relations. Her variety of assignments included: news/feature writer and press representative for Girl Scouts of the USA, substitute Beauty Editor at the New York Daily News, Assistant Director - Press Department for Seventeen Magazine, writer & tester for the Consumer Service Bureau of Parents' Magazine, Assistant Account Executive at Verne Burnett Associates, writer/special event coordinator for the National Catholic Community Service Club - USO, and employment at Morton Sontheimer & Company which included a long assignment in the Caribbean.

Her writing and public relations work encompassed straight reporting, interviews, captioning, TV scripts, and speeches, publication design/layout, and art direction. Among notables she interviewed were NYC Mayor Robert Wagner, Richard Nixon, and Lady Baden-Powell. She placed articles in the Denver Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Christian Science Monitor among other national papers as well as on the Associated Press and United Press International networks.

A photographer in her youth (as well as professionally), Rose Frances captured many shots of her family with her prized Leica. Ever curious about people and the world, she took a tour of Europe with several friends after graduating from college. In later years, she enjoyed gathering with friends, especially if the company included John Jameson.

A devout Catholic, she attended daily mass when able. She was active with many of her friends in parish groups and Our Lady of Mercy community life.

Rose Frances is survived by her sister, Kathleen McLoughlin of Danbury, nieces Anne McLoughlin, Maggie Scher, Eileen Carter, Clare Smith, Rebecca Dolan, Maura McLoughlin; nephews Andrew Dolan, Kevin McLoughlin; grand-nieces Molly Carter, Charlotte Carter, Erin-Marie Smith, Alyson Dolan; and grand-nephews Daniel Scher, Timothy Smith, Alexx Scher, Aaron Dolan.

She is preceded in death by her parents Daniel and Mary McArdle of Forest Hills, sisters Maureen McArdle of Forest Hills and Veronica Dolan of Denver, and niece Elizabeth Dolan of Denver.

The family wishes to extend their gratitude to her close friends, clergy and other members of Our Lady of Mercy parish who gave her so much companionship and support throughout her long life, the staff of Atria Forest Hills her recent residence, and the Carmelite Sisters and staff of Ozanam Hall who were at her side to offer comfort at the end