Rose McKinney
Belleville |
Rose McKinney was born on January 25, 1925, in the small mining town of Argentine, Pennsylvania, to Elvira (nee Pisto) and James (Vincenzo) Todarello. She passed peacefully on June 8, 2025, in Belleville, Illinois.
Rose’s dad was a coal miner, and when the mines closed, she moved with her family, including two older brothers and two younger sisters, to Allentown, PA, where her dad found work in the steel and silk mills until they closed during the Depression.
Her mother, Elvira, died when Rose was 9 years old. Her family then moved to Grove City, PA, to be near family and she attended a one-room schoolhouse. Her dad owned and operated a small neighborhood grocery store. They eventually moved next door to her uncle, whose wife, Aunt Mil, became her second mother.
A favorite memory from her childhood was when her dad would make each kid their very own, full-sized, pumpkin pie when the pumpkins ripened. She also fondly remembered boarding a train to Allentown and her father buying her a pair of fur-lined leather gloves.
She graduated from Grove City High School in 1942. After graduation, she became a telephone operator and soon after met her future husband, Richard, a Marine attending radio technician school. Her meet-cute story goes that she and a girlfriend told some handsome Marines where they would be sunbathing by the river later that day, and Richard was among the Marines that showed up. They were married in 1945. She loved returning to Grove City to visit family and attend high school reunions. In later years, she would take her kids or grandkids.
After Richard was discharged, they moved to the Chicago area, where they had their four kids, a dog, and geese. It’s possible she made the dog leave the family after licking the frosting off a cake she had made for dinner. The geese faired better and became babysitters, their honking alerting her if the kids got out of line. The family moved to California when her husband landed a job with Aerojet circa 1960.
In California, she raised four kids, a dog, and many cats over the years. She thrived there, in a large ranch house with a fruit and nut orchard and huge garden. First, her grandfather and then her dad came to live with the family and tended to the garden. She became a great cook, using the garden and orchard bounty, and became known for the dozens of delicious cookies she would bake and give away at Christmas time.
With her family, she enjoyed camping, skiing, day trips, daily jaunts to the neighborhood swimming pool in the summer, vacations, and indulging (and tolerating) her husband’s sometimes quirky antics, dad jokes, driving shortcuts that turned into longcuts, feeding the neighbor’s dog donuts, and putting out a water dish for the groundhog that was ravaging their lawn. She always went along with her husband’s out-of-the-ordinary vacations (like a tour of all points west of the Mississippi on a Greyhound bus) or day trips (like Sunday morning drives to the mountains to cook breakfast over an open fire and panning for gold or exploring ghost towns).
Rose organized neighborhood and holiday potlucks and became an avid canasta player. Occasionally, she and her friends enjoyed bus trips to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, for some light gambling. She adopted neighborhood kids and would drag them along on family outings. She made all her and her daughters’ clothing and would also make a matching tie for her husband, no matter the material. Like her cookies, the ties always became a topic of conversation at their social gatherings. She also was very involved in St. John the Evangelist parish Ladies Club and parish school activities. She carted around the kids to numerous sports, dance, and music lessons in a 1957 Ford Station wagon. She was always the loudest at her kid’s sporting events, cheering them on and not afraid to chastise the referees if necessary.
In 1971, she had to leave her beloved California for Grandview, Missouri, due to another job transfer. In Missouri, she saw one daughter off to college and saw the other get married and deliver her third and fourth grandchildren. Soon after, she became known as Mimi, and being a lover of babies, she took up babysitting and helped to usher in the working mother era. They became empty nesters in Missouri and began traveling back to California annually to visit with her sons, grandkids, and Rose’s many friends.
In 1977, Rose and Richard, once again moved, following a job transfer to Belleville, Illinois. They both resided here until their passing. They learned bridge here, and she became a serious player; he, not so much, to her chagrin. As expected, she quickly became known for her Christmas cookies, but now her pies have also become popular as well. Whenever the grandkids visited, she would have them in the kitchen with her baking. She also taught all her grandkids how to play cards, and she schooled everyone on the rules and the importance of not even giving the appearance of cheating. She expected everyone to take card games seriously, and at large family gatherings, rowdy games of hand and foot would ensue. She also enjoyed board games and would play them often with her grandkids. Scrabble was her favorite.
While living in Belleville, Rose and Richard took her dad to Italy for a visit and to connect with her dad’s family. It was his first trip back since he left in 1912. She subsequently helped her dad qualify to have his name inscribed on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor on Ellis Island.
Her husband, Richard, passed away in 1986. She then took up volunteer work and became involved in many local community activities. She also joined a quilting group and turned out many beautiful quilts. She walked daily with a neighborhood walking group to keep fit.
She traveled to Europe, Hawaii, and went on numerous vacations around the US and cruises with family. She even accompanied her granddaughter when she headed to Yale. Another grandchild loved helicopters, so she took him on as many rides as she could. She was very adventurous and was not afraid to try paragliding or similar activities. She enjoyed a hot air balloon ride on her 80th birthday.
She also helped raise sixth and seventh grandkids while in Belleville, seeing them through high school graduation. Her other grandchildren and family visited frequently on holidays and continued to enjoy her cooking and baking skills. She still traveled to California to visit friends and took the train to visit grandkids in the Kansas City area well into her eighties. She also traveled back to Pennsylvania for several family reunions, which inspired her to research and document her family tree. This helped her learn computer skills and she entered the world of social media, where she was able to connect with old friends and family.
In her later years, she became an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan and collected memorabilia. She also enjoyed feeding the birds and squirrels, watching game shows, and playing cards at the senior center.
In January 2025, she celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by family and friends.
Her legacy includes 9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. She’s lived through iconic eras, from the roaring ‘20s to the age of smartphones and self-driving cars, each chapter adding to her incredible life story.
Rose was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Richard; her infant children, Steven and Thomas; her brothers, Joe, Freddy, and infant Vincent; her sisters, Theresa and infant Catherine; and her granddaughter, Emma Scarlett Quinn.
She is survived by her children, Richard and his children, James and Richard; Robert (Sue) and their children, Phil, Paul (Jennifer) and their child, Brendan, and Adam (Tiffany) and their child Avery; and Colette Luff and her child, Evan (Dale) and their child, Lenora; Kathy Geyer (Carl) and their children, Christina Philips (Aaron) and their children, Aubrey and Carter, and Carl Geyer Jr (Ila) and their child, Kelsi.
Mimi will be deeply missed.
Renner Funeral Home
