Obituary of RoseAnn Buckley

RoseAnn Buckley passed away peacefully at Tufts Medical Center on February 8, 2019. RoseAnn was the devoted mother and best friend of Danny and Sarah Buckley, Meg and Ken Comeiro, and Kate and Billy Greene. Loving and fun nana of Timmy Yost, Olivia Comeiro, Abby and Liam Greene, and Trinity Frustaglia. Wife of Daniel F. Buckley. She was predeceased by her parents Vincent Sr. and Lena Bravoco, as well as her feline companion CeeCee and her grand-dog Delilah (Loola). 

RoseAnn was born in Boston and raised in the North End of Boston. After graduating from Brighton High School, she worked as a legal secretary until she had children. She moved to Burlington, Massachusetts in the early 1980’s at which time she became a stay-at-home mother for a few years. She then began a career as a Home Health Aide and Certified Nursing Assistant, working in several nursing homes, assisted livings, and private homes throughout the years. She worked at Atria Longmeadow Place in Burlington for nearly 20 years-since the day that it opened- until the very day that she became ill in September of 2018. RoseAnn found great fulfillment in her role  at Longmeadow Place and recently received the Employee of the Month award for her hard work and dedication. She had many good relationships throughout the years, her fondest one being her friend and colleague, Angelee. 

RoseAnn's true love will always be her children and grandchildren. She worked three jobs for many years to provide for her children, often working twelve-plus hour shifts for days in a row, but she managed to do it all and never complained. She was an inspirational role model who taught her kids the importance of hard work, honesty, independence, reliability, strong work ethics, and most importantly to always appreciate what you have. RoseAnn took great pride in the professional growth of her children. Both of her daughters completed Master’s Degrees in Nursing and her son has been consistently promoted through the years while working in the hospital food service industry.  RoseAnn encouraged and supported them throughout their schooling and was their biggest cheerleader and champion.

RoseAnn was happiest when she was with her kids or grandkids. They were constantly together, supporting each other and making memories. She loved the beach, especially York Beach in Maine, as well as the White Mountains in New Hampshire.  She loved music and live performances, most recently having seen Gordon Lightfoot with her children in June of 2018.   She would always be up for an adventure, a dinner out, or simply to meet at a park and chat. She never turned down an opportunity to babysit any of her grandchildren . There was never a time that RoseAnn was not available for her family; she was always there for them, no matter the circumstances or time of day. She did not miss any events and she would always encourage a celebration for any and all accomplishments or milestones. 

RoseAnn was always friendly to everyone  that she met and had a contagious smile. She was very intelligent, an avid reader, and was skilled at the crossword puzzles that she was frequently working on.

RoseAnn was a regular at Dunkin' Donuts and Market Basket.  It is believed by her family that RoseAnn grocery shopped every day of the year in order to buy enough food to continuously feed everyone. She was famous for this and was frequently seen carrying carloads of food to family events, as well as dropping by dinner at her children's homes or places of work.  She knew everyone's preferences and would go out of her way to find anything that they showed interest in. Anyone who was her roommate during getaways needed to prepare for a five pound weight gain due to the amount of snacks that she would encourage you to eat. She loved a bargain and also used to enjoy shopping at Building 19 1/2. She would never turn down an opportunity for Chinese takeout and had an interest in Asian culture and tradition.

Thanksgiving was the biggest holiday for the Buckley family. They always gathered at RoseAnn's house and ate throughout the day. Sweatpants were the appropriate attire on Thanksgiving day!  There were the traditional Thanksgiving items, like turkey and mashed potatoes, but that was just the start. RoseAnn would cook an abundant amount of appetizers such as pizza rolls and mini-quiches, enough food to fill two entire tables and every counter top in the kitchen.  It often appeared she thought that she was feeding the entire street and not just her family!RoseAnn enjoyed shopping from QVC and once infamously ordered a "Cajun turkey loaf" and served it up at Thanksgiving dinner. While it was met with mixed reviews, it certainly encouraged lots of laughs (as only RoseAnn would order Thanksgiving dinner from QVC)! 

Danny will miss meeting his mom for dinner as well as the many happy times they spent at York Beach and Plymouth as well as their frequent phone calls during his commute to work. 

Meg will miss texting her mother during her moments of insomnia  in the middle of the night and always receiving a response even at 2am.  Meg will always be especially thankful to RoseAnn for her babysitting Timmy so that she could complete her nursing degrees, as it would have been much more difficult to accomplish this as a young, single mother without her mom’s unending support. 

Kate shared a true love of theater with her mom and they held season tickets together at North Shore Musical Theater in Beverly for over fifteen years and also saw over 100 other plays and concerts together through the years. Kate will miss going to the plays, concerts and dinners together so much as well as the way her mom would always sit on the beach with her even if it was 40 degrees out and raining while everyone else ran for cover. Kate will also miss their mutual love of the Dollar Tree. 

RoseAnn was so impressed and grateful to the whole team at Tufts Medical Center that provided her medical care for the past five months. Her condition (Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis) was extremely rare in adults and her medical team tried very hard to put it into remission. They pursued every option and treatment possible, even collaborating with teams from other hospitals and even in other countries to find alternatives. Her true heroes were the angels of her unit, North 8, who provided the majority of her care while she was hospitalized and they can never be thanked enough. The nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners, unit coordinators, and clinical care technician’s consistently made her feel loved and comfortable. They eased her fear when she was scared, alleviated her symptoms during her chemotherapy, and treated her kindly and with dignity and respect. They are true experts in the art of caring and RoseAnn and her family feel blessed to have been cared for by such extraordinary people. Memorial donations in RoseAnn's name can be made to the Michael H. Flanagan foundation (mikesfoundation.com). This foundation runs a children's room on the 8th floor of Tufts Medical Center that made it possible for her family to visit each day for the past five months. This children's room allowed for a place for her grandchildren to hang out in and relax while her children were able to visit at her bedside. The family is forever grateful to the team on North 8 and the Michael H. Flanagan foundation. 

RoseAnn's love of life never dimmed despite undergoing aggressive treatment for her cancer. She remained characteristically upbeat, hopeful and positive until her passing. She passed away surrounded by her family and by the music that she loved so much. There will forever be an empty space in her families’ hearts but they will cherish the honor of having so many wonderful memories to look back on and they will carry those memories with them in the years to come. Services will be private. RoseAnn will be remembered at the 8:00 am mass at St Theresa's Church in Billerica on Sunday, March 3.  A celebration of RoseAnn's life will be planned by her children and held in the future.