[Leica] IMGs: Tribute to My Mom

[Alan Magayne-Roshak]

Today would have been my mother's 100th birthday.  She passed away
comfortably June 15th in hospice care after a remarkable life.

Carolyn (Pronz) Roshak: Teacher, Navy Veteran, Wife, Mother, Office
Administrator, Film Extra, Sanitarium Volunteer, Docent, and Writer.

Her official NAVY photo, 1942.
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Photo by my father while at Camp American legion, 1945.
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A glamour photo when my father briefly had a portrait studio business (my
mother did the hand-coloring of the prints), 1947.
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My mother's home made (and prize-winning) Martian costumes, 1955.
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My mother, age 94, at her retirement home's veteran's day event.
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    Oldest child of seven, Carolyn graduated from Wisconsin State
College-Stevens Point and became a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse before
joining the U.S.Navy as a WAVE during World War II, where she served as a
pre-flight instructor.  After injuring her back in a Link trainer accident
and being discharged, she married S/Sgt. Michael S. Roshak, USAAF
(1919-1991) in 1945.  The couple had two sons, Alan B. Roshak (b. 1948) and
Bruce B. Roshak, USAF (1956-2013).  Following Michael’s discharge from the
Army Air Force, Carolyn worked various jobs, including as an insurance
company office administrator in Chicago, to put him through the Chicago
College of Optometry.  When her husband had established his Milwaukee
practice, Carolyn went to night school at UWM to obtain her master’s
degree, and with this certification, she first worked with emotionally
disturbed children at the Milwaukee County Institutions, then as a special
education teacher in the Milwaukee Public Schools.  She was also
responsible for putting me through college.
      Retired from teaching, Carolyn volunteered at the Sacred Heart
Sanitarium and was a docent at the Frederick Pabst Mansion.  In her
seventies, she sought work as a senior citizen model for photos and
commercials, but didn’t do as much as she liked because she was told she
didn’t look old enough. Her energy led her to apply to be an extra during
the filming of “Major League” at County Stadium, and not only was she in
the film, but became a volunteer in the production office too.  About the
same time, Carolyn began writing short accounts of her life experiences
that she later shared with other members of her retirement home.  She was
active in the American Legion and other organizations; and was reputedly
the first woman veteran to stay at Camp American Legion near Minocqua
(Wisconsin), in 1945 (along with Michael).     She was one feisty lady.

-- 
Alan

Alan Magayne-Roshak, Senior Photographer
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Photo Services
(Retired)
UPAA Photographer of the Year 1978
UPAA Master of the Profession 2014
amagayneroshak at gmail.com
<http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Alan+Magayne-Roshak/>

"All the technique in the world doesn't compensate
 for an inability to notice. " - Elliott Erwitt