Rosalie Burchfield was reunited with her beloved husband David on September 5, 2023, at the ripe, young age of 85, in Flagstaff, Arizona. She was a beautiful, strong woman who loved horses, dogs, books, cooking, painting, baseball, mystery TV shows, but most of all, her family and friends. She was generous, kind, hard-working, ferociously loyal, and very, very feisty. No matter where she went, she made friends. Everyone loved her. She was the greatest Mom who ever lived, and she loved her daughter and granddaughters fiercely. She was always, always there for her family, there for them every step of the way, no matter what. She was and is the Gold Standard in every way.

Born in 1938 on the South Side of Chicago, Rosalie was raised in a good working-class Polish neighborhood, not far from the South Works steel mill where her father worked. She was the oldest of three kids, and from the very beginning it was abundantly clear that she possessed a strong will and a wild-hearted soul.

At the age of five or six, a man toting a camera and a pony came through their neighborhood, offering to take portraits of families' children. Rosalie was one of those little kids, and she was (much to the bewilderment of her solidly urban, city-folk family) instantly and forever bitten by the virus medical doctors commonly refer to as "Horse Fever." There was and is no known cure, and she was infected with the deep and abiding love for horses for the rest of her life.

By age of twenty, Rosalie was also working at the steel mill as a secretary, but she was spending all her free time taking the bus or train out to the stables, firmly entrenched in the equestrian community. She'd gotten her first horse, and they competed in rodeos and gymkhana, and regularly won trophies and ribbons. After a couple of years, she got her ultimate horse, her best friend, Misty—an American Albino Quarter Horse.

Rosalie and Misty were unstoppable in competitions. Together, whether it was barrel racing, pole bending, or even a strange western version of dressage, they consistently cleaned out the competition.  She learned to trick ride, doing things like hanging upside down from the saddle by one ankle, as Misty galloped around the arena (and then having the pure-steel core strength to pull herself back upright again).

Eventually, in her mid-twenties, she met David, a tall lean kid a couple of years younger than her with a startling resemblance to Elvis, and a background so completely different from her own it was almost as if he was from an alien planet. She was a city girl, and he was a small-town country boy, only recently imported to the urban landscape.  She was of Polish descent, and heavily Catholic; he'd been raised Protestant, and was of Appalachian descent. They were worlds apart in what sort of life experiences they'd had.

For David, it was love at first sight.  For Rosalie, she was more interested in horses than romance. Luckily for him, she gave him a chance and allowed him to meet her beloved Misty. He'd never been in a saddle in his life, but upon meeting Rosalie and Misty, he, too, was immediately bitten by the Horse Fever bug. Before long, he was also entering equestrian competitions with Misty.

Because they came from different worlds, their romance was scandalous in their families and community. But, true to her strong-willed, rebellious nature, Rosalie followed her heart and did as she pleased. Soon, David and Rosalie were married, and a happier, more romantic, more in-love couple, there never was. They went on to have a daughter together, build a beautiful log home together, and eventually move across the country to the Southwest where they lived in Arizona and then New Mexico with their daughter, their horses, and their dogs. They had jobs, such as caretaking at a remote ranch in the New Mexico mountains and running a cabin resort in a small town, that allowed them to live the lifestyle they preferred: one with plenty of opportunity for long trail rides and hiking in the wilderness.

In 2001, David was suddenly taken from her. It was a devastating blow, one where she lost her best friend and true love. She was only sixty-one at the time, and the plan to retire and build their dream home to grow old together in was gone in the blink of an eye.

But, with her spine of steel and deep love for her daughter and granddaughter, she kept on going. She figured out how to piece together a new life. She continued working and eventually got herself a new son-in-law and a second granddaughter to pour her love into. She moved to Eagar and had her own little cottage built. She began seriously painting, creating many, many gorgeous pieces.  And as she had throughout her life, she was surrounded by many amazing, wonderful friends.

Rosalie spent her final years in Flagstaff, Arizona, living with her daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law. It was a blessing for all of them to get to spend so much extra time together, an experience that many families don't get the opportunity to enjoy.

Rosalie was and is, a legend.

She is survived by her daughter, Pamela, two granddaughters, Caitlin and Julia, her son-in-law, Blaine, nephew Scott, and nieces Nadine and Jennifer. Her family and friends will miss her every single day, for the rest of their lives.