Rosemary Thorndike Elizabeth (Reardon) Honkanen, 88, of Bourne, Massachusetts, died in the

early hours of Saturday, July 15, 2023 at her home, following a long and valiant struggle with her

health. She was the cherished wife, "Rosie", of George Peter Honkanen, "Georgie", the light of

her life who predeceased her in 1993. Rosemary was one month shy of her 89th birthday, and

will be forever missed by her seven devoted children and their spouses: Kimberley Anita

Johnson of Moreno Valley, CA; Susan Thorndike Holmes and her husband, Bradford, of

Rehoboth; George Douglas Honkanen of Bourne; Kathryn Ann Cameron and her husband,

Stephen, of Falmouth; Dr. Anita Honkanen of Orinda, CA; and fraternal twins, Elizabeth Perkins

Torres of Rio Vista, CA, and Peter Dean Honkanen, and his wife, Ting, of Beverly.

Rosemary was the proud grandmother, "Nina", of 20 loving grandchildren – 10 boys and 10 girls

(along with their SOs): Adam Alexander Johnson; Brian Tyler Johnson; Kevin Michael Johnson;

Elyse Nicole (Johnson) Lowe and husband, Cody; Andrew Taylor Holmes and wife, Muriel;

Bradford Dean Holmes andwife, Lauren; Nathaniel Porter Holmes and wife, Ryann;

Meghan Rose (Cameron) Shively andhusband, Nicholas; Brendan Douglas Cameron and wife, Nicole;

Rachel Ann Cameron; Michael Ryan Cameron and wife, Robyn; Alexandra Natarajan Honkanen Ackroyd

and husband, Chandra Mouli Natarajan; Margaret Rose Honkanen Ackroyd; Suzanna Honkanen

Ackroyd-O'Dea and husband, Nicholas; Rebecca Honkanen Ackroyd; Eliza George Honkanen

Ackroyd and partner, George Savas; George Anthony Torres and wife, Paige; Richard Nicholas

Torres and fiancé, Jessica Ting; Emily Rose Torres; Victoria Elizabeth Ignacia Torres.

She was the revered Nina of 12 great-grandchildren – 7 girls and 5 boys: Olivia Lilith and

Freyja Juniper Lowe; Evelyn Louise and George Alden Holmes, Josephine Harper Holmes

(and her sister on-the-way); Elizabeth Cathryn and Jackson Glen Shively, Stephen Fitzgerald

and Luke Thorndike Cameron, Rae Sofia Cameron; Frederick Yatirajan Ackroyd.

Born in Boston, Mass. on August 14, 1934 to the late James Gerard Reardon, and the late Anita

(Thorndike) Carleton, Rosemary also had a caring stepfather, "Pop", the late George P.

Carleton; stepmother, the late Inga (Thrush) Reardon; and dearly-loved father-in-law, "Grampy

Peter", the late Peter Honkanen. She is survived by her younger brother, Michael Peter Reardon

of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI; and her half-sister, Christine "Tina" (Reardon) Biebrich of

Pinehurst, NC. She was the sister of the late Cynthia Ann Carter, the late James Gerard

Reardon, Jr., the late Susan Thorndike Burke, the late Judith Anita Reardon; and the niece of

her darling "Aunt Sally" – the late Sally Foster (Thorndike) Roth, who was like a sister (or

mother!) to her. Rosemary and her siblings experienced a wonderful, adventurous upbringing in

beautiful homes in towns around the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Reardon children

were full of mischief and good-natured pranks, held to account under the watchful eye of their

mother, "Nita", and spared by the more indulgent nature of their father, "Roddie" (whom little

Rosie idolized). The family never quite recovered from the loss of adored youngest child, "Judy",

who succumbed to a heart condition at the age of 8.

Rosemary also leaves behind her sister-in-law, Patricia Reardon; loving nephews and nieces;

her beloved cousins including June (Thorndike) O'Leary, Bill and Joe Reardon, and Louis, Nick,

Alex, Sally Ann, and Peter Thorndike Roth; and many dear friends – from her supportive

care-givers of recent, such as Lindy and Geralyn – to Franny Flint, her oldest friend of 70 years,

Franny's daughter, Suzanne, and Mary Leandro, who continued to keep in touch from Hawaii

(where Rosemary resided for 12 years before returning to family in New England).

Rosemary enjoyed reading, playing piano, card games, jigsaw puzzles, bowling, walking,

gardening and houseplants, horseback riding lessons, live music and theatre, and classic

movies.

She relished a good book, joke, debate, fisherman's platter, math problem or Sudoku puzzle.

Her talents and hobbies included drawing, knitting, sewing, crocheting, needlework, completing

crossword puzzles in record time, and cooking – she was a fantastic cook who made even

veggies taste delicious to a child's palate. Her original recipes are family heirlooms which will be

savored and shared through the generations.

Some of her favorite things were jitterbugging, songs and stories from her youth, splashing in

rain puddles and hose "fights" with her kids and grandkids, milk ("Moo moo, I love you!"), the

Sunday "funnies" and Sunday brunch, swordfish and steak (she always "hosied" the steak

bones), saying "piffle", "padiddle" and "foof it", the annual Honkanen Memorial Day Cookout,

summer days and evenings on Minot Beach, the beach after a storm – to play in the waves and

search for "treasures", camping at Maidstone, VT with the Hoags, the Newport Waterfront Irish

Festival, and corned beef and cabbage on St. Paddy's Day.

Some things of importance to her were picking out just the right card to send her loved ones for

their birthdays, The Boston Globe, her Scottish heritage, all of her cherished pets over the

years, and giving to worthy causes.

She loved babies and children, cats and dogs, books, music, mountains and the ocean, and

most of all, family, with its gatherings, holidays, and traditions ... passions passed on to her

offspring.

In earlier years, Rosemary's primary focus was raising her seven children in Scituate, Mass.

She ran her household seemingly effortlessly with daily schedules and routines. Her motto was

"the more, the merrier!" and she gathered many under her wing in addition to her own "seven

chicks". The number of children in her home and heart often swelled with her kids' friends,

cousins and classmates, neighborhood kids, and even her two foster sons for a year – Michael

Souza and his brother, the late Matthew Souza. She somehow found the time to be her sons'

Cub Scout den mother, and help her daughters' Girl Scout troop earn their theatre badge.

Together, Rosemary and George hosted two high school exchange students – Maria from Spain

and Jett from Thailand, and chaperoned the Scituate High School band on its trip to Rome, Italy.

Throughout the years while George was starting his own company, she was challenged to feed

and clothe seven little children on a shoe-string budget, yet they always felt lucky – she made

the mundanes of life special, magical, and fun.

She also worked outside the home on occasion – as a bank teller, bookkeeper, and volunteer

(at a hospital, hospital gift shops, a library, and bookstore) – both in Boston and South Shore,

MA, and in Oahu, HI. She felt particularly rewarded by her time spent comforting and soothing

babies at Boston Children's Hospital, by being entrusted handling large transactions at the Bank

of Boston in Downtown Boston, and by helping sell enough donated books at the library's

used-book store in Kailua, HI to fund a new playground.

In later years, she was content watching birds at the birdbath and feeders carefully tended by

her son, Doug... doting on her kitty cat, "Pumpkin"... and still looking forward to her morning

paper, favorite TV shows, and ice cream... but especially, visits and FaceTime with family and

meeting her new great-grandbabies.

Rosemary's beautiful smile, teasing sense of humor, down-to-earth exuberance and natural way

with children were a joy to behold and inspiration to many.

She's now in Heaven with Georgie, her head on his shoulder as they slowly sway to Ray Price

crooning their song, "For the Good Times".

Mum / Nina / Rosie / Aunt Rose / Ro – we will love you and miss you, always!

There will be a Celebration of Rosemary's Life for relatives and friends, date and location to be

determined. Those wishing to make a donation in her memory can do so to one of the following

associations which meant a lot to her:

Doctors Without Borders

Donor Services at (888) 392-0392

https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org

St. Jude's

Donor Services at (800) 805-5856

www.stjude.org/donate

Wounded Warriors

Donor Services at (855) 448-3997

https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate

ASPCA

Donor Services at (800) 628-0028

https://www.aspca.org/ways-to-give

Obituary lovingly written by the family of Rosemary Honkanen