After sister's death, family realizes breadth of her small world

By PAUL GRONDAHL, Staff writer
Last updated: 5:26 p.m., Thursday, August 7, 2008

NISKAYUNA -- Born with Down syndrome and unable to speak, Rosemary Amazon seemed to exist in her own, small sphere.

Listening to music soothed her. The Beatles were her favorite, especially ``I Want To Hold Your Hand.''

She stood 4-foot-5 and weighed barely 100 pounds. Her family called her Rosy.

Her piercing blue eyes seemed to peer into one's soul as she lay dying this week of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, often referred to as ``Lou Gehrig's disease.''

The youngest of six siblings, she lived with their mother until age 39 at the family's Keyes Avenue home, until glaucoma took her mother's eyesight and she could no longer care for Rosy.

Rosy spent the past 11 years in a Niskayuna group home for mentally retarded adults.

``She was very lively and led a wonderful life,'' said Melissa Bender, director of residential services for the Center for Disability Services.

As a volunteer, Rosy put the salt and pepper into food containers for Meals on Wheels. She helped make dog biscuits for the Humane Society. She enjoyed bowling, rock concerts and swimming. She helped her sisters make a favorite family meal, ziti and meatballs.

Rosy had defied for so long doctors' expectations that she would die young that it came as a shock when she was diagnosed with ALS in April. For months, they had assumed it was the onset of arthritis after her hands and wrists became stiff and lost strength.

Rosy, of course, was unable to say what was wrong.

But her siblings knew she felt things deeply. Once, a boy riding past on a bike yelled ``Retard!'' Sheila looked over and saw tears running down Rosy's cheeks.

Her sister Jenny had taken Rosy into her Delmar home last Friday. Her five siblings gathered around Rosy's beside to offer comfort in her final days.

``It was so inspirational. She accepted everything with a smile,'' said her sister, Sheila Spraragen.

``She had such grace and beauty and dignity,'' said her brother, Dana Amazon. ``She was pure love.''

What they had always considered Rosy's small and limited world was nothing of the sort. They came to understand just how wide her impact had been in an outpouring of condolences after her death Tuesday at age 50.

``She touched so many lives,'' Connors said. ``I think she had more friends than all of us.''

A Mass of Christian burial will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Helen's Church, 1803 Union St., Niskayuna. Memorial contributions may be made to the Center for Disability Services Foundation, 319 S. Manning Blvd., Albany, NY 12208.

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