Obituary for Rosemary Markus (Golebiewski)
MARKUS - Rosemary RN, (nee Golebiewski) Of Buffalo, NY, April 23, 2023, at age 89. Beloved wife of the late Gabor Markus MD, PhD; loving mother of Dr. Jennifer (Dr. Douglas Beer) Markus, Elizabeth (Ron Gallen) Markus and Christopher (Claire Saunders) Markus; cherished grandmother of Alice Markus; dear sister of Eugenia Kubala, Edward and the late Henry, Zygmus, Nina Krzeminski and Celia Kubala; also survived by nieces, nephews and devoted friend Doris Burnett. Visitation at the KOLANO FUNERAL HOME, 396 Amherst St. (near Grant) Thursday from 3-7PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at Assumption Church, 435 Amherst St., Friday at 10AM. Please assemble at Church. If desired, donations in Rosemary's memory may be made to Assumption Church Preservation Fund. Please share your online condolences @ www.KOLANOFUNERALHOME.com
OBITUARY
May 9, 1933 – April 23, 2023
Born into the Great Depression and the daughter of Polish immigrants who settled in Black Rock, Rosemary Markus knew early in life that she wanted to rise above the roles expected of women then.
For her, there had to be more than marriage and childrearing, though in time she would embrace those callings while continuing in her professional life as a nurse and later as a nursing instructor.
From her earliest years in the Buffalo Schools, the former Rosemary Golebiewski loved science and received the prestigious Jesse Ketchum Medal, which is awarded to the top students in the district.
After graduating from Riverside High School, she earned a nursing degree at the University at Buffalo and traveled to Scotland to complete a course in midwifery for a specialty in obstetrics, her son Christopher Markus recalled.
But when a nursing position opened up in the early 1960s at what was then Roswell Park Cancer Institute, she could not resist the chance to be part of the cutting edge of science and medicine in assisting in the treatment of cancer patients, her daughter Dr. Jennifer Markus, a psychiatrist, added.
It was also at Roswell Park that a young cancer researcher who was a Holocaust survivor fell in love with her. She and Dr. Gabor Markus married in 1964 and began a life together that was filled with children, home concerts, gourmet meals, travel and education.
On Sunday, at the age of 89, Mrs. Markus died following a short illness. And though there is loss, her children say there is much to celebrate in their mother’s life.
“My father was just so in love with my mother. He thought she was gorgeous. And he loved her family too. He’d left his family in Europe to come here,” Dr. Markus said.
Part of the bond between her parents, she said, arose out of personal tragedy and trauma they separately experienced from World War II.
“My mother told us how the last time she saw her oldest brother Henry was when he walked through an exit door to board a train at the Central Terminal to go off to the war. He was killed in Europe,” Dr. Markus said.
The war had also been cruel Gabor Markus and his father, Andor, who were Jewish and lived in Hungary.
“The Nazis put them in work camps, often digging ditches. But a non-Jewish doctor somehow arranged to meet them when they were marching from one camp to another and he put them in his car. They ended up hiding in the attic of a convent run by the Blue Nuns in Hungary,” said Christopher Markus, a screenwriter.
Despite all of that, Mrs. Markus’ children said their home on Starin Avenue was a joyful place, often filled with the many people their parents befriended.
“My dad would make Hungarian paprikash chicken for friends and after dinner there would be a concert. He was a classical pianist and friends would play the violin and cello. We even had someone who sang in German,” the daughter said.
When her children were teenagers, Mrs. Markus enrolled at Niagara University and earned a master’s degree in nursing and began teaching nursing, according to Christopher Markus.
Mrs. Markus also explored the world with her family, traveling across the country and to Europe, but she never forgot her roots. When her mother in Black Rock became ill, she took her in and cared for her until she died at 98 years of age in 1998.
Throughout her life, she was member of the Bonsai Society, a patron of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and active with the International Institute of Buffalo.
In addition to Dr. Markus and Christopher Markus, she is survived by her daughter Elizabeth Markus, a painter. Survivors also include a granddaughter and her friend of 70 years, Doris Burnett. Her husband died in 2012.
Visitation will be held at the KOLANO FUNERAL HOME, 396 Amherst St. (near Grant) Thursday, April 27th from 3-7PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Friday in Assumption Catholic Church, 435 Amherst St.
Obituary written by Buffalo News reporter, Lou Michel.
OBITUARY
May 9, 1933 – April 23, 2023
Born into the Great Depression and the daughter of Polish immigrants who settled in Black Rock, Rosemary Markus knew early in life that she wanted to rise above the roles expected of women then.
For her, there had to be more than marriage and childrearing, though in time she would embrace those callings while continuing in her professional life as a nurse and later as a nursing instructor.
From her earliest years in the Buffalo Schools, the former Rosemary Golebiewski loved science and received the prestigious Jesse Ketchum Medal, which is awarded to the top students in the district.
After graduating from Riverside High School, she earned a nursing degree at the University at Buffalo and traveled to Scotland to complete a course in midwifery for a specialty in obstetrics, her son Christopher Markus recalled.
But when a nursing position opened up in the early 1960s at what was then Roswell Park Cancer Institute, she could not resist the chance to be part of the cutting edge of science and medicine in assisting in the treatment of cancer patients, her daughter Dr. Jennifer Markus, a psychiatrist, added.
It was also at Roswell Park that a young cancer researcher who was a Holocaust survivor fell in love with her. She and Dr. Gabor Markus married in 1964 and began a life together that was filled with children, home concerts, gourmet meals, travel and education.
On Sunday, at the age of 89, Mrs. Markus died following a short illness. And though there is loss, her children say there is much to celebrate in their mother’s life.
“My father was just so in love with my mother. He thought she was gorgeous. And he loved her family too. He’d left his family in Europe to come here,” Dr. Markus said.
Part of the bond between her parents, she said, arose out of personal tragedy and trauma they separately experienced from World War II.
“My mother told us how the last time she saw her oldest brother Henry was when he walked through an exit door to board a train at the Central Terminal to go off to the war. He was killed in Europe,” Dr. Markus said.
The war had also been cruel Gabor Markus and his father, Andor, who were Jewish and lived in Hungary.
“The Nazis put them in work camps, often digging ditches. But a non-Jewish doctor somehow arranged to meet them when they were marching from one camp to another and he put them in his car. They ended up hiding in the attic of a convent run by the Blue Nuns in Hungary,” said Christopher Markus, a screenwriter.
Despite all of that, Mrs. Markus’ children said their home on Starin Avenue was a joyful place, often filled with the many people their parents befriended.
“My dad would make Hungarian paprikash chicken for friends and after dinner there would be a concert. He was a classical pianist and friends would play the violin and cello. We even had someone who sang in German,” the daughter said.
When her children were teenagers, Mrs. Markus enrolled at Niagara University and earned a master’s degree in nursing and began teaching nursing, according to Christopher Markus.
Mrs. Markus also explored the world with her family, traveling across the country and to Europe, but she never forgot her roots. When her mother in Black Rock became ill, she took her in and cared for her until she died at 98 years of age in 1998.
Throughout her life, she was member of the Bonsai Society, a patron of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and active with the International Institute of Buffalo.
In addition to Dr. Markus and Christopher Markus, she is survived by her daughter Elizabeth Markus, a painter. Survivors also include a granddaughter and her friend of 70 years, Doris Burnett. Her husband died in 2012.
Visitation will be held at the KOLANO FUNERAL HOME, 396 Amherst St. (near Grant) Thursday, April 27th from 3-7PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Friday in Assumption Catholic Church, 435 Amherst St.
Obituary written by Buffalo News reporter, Lou Michel.