June 19, 1913 – March 18, 2006
Rose Wirth, 92, of Sweet Home, died March 18, 2006 at her home.
She was born in Trinidad, Colo., to John and Agnes (Nemecek) Kufner. She grew up there on her family’s dairy farm. She rode a horse to attend a one-room school house until she went to Trinidad High School, where she graduated in 1929.
She married Joseph A. Wirth on Sept. 16, 1931. They moved to Modoc Point, Ore., in 1935, where her husband got his start in the lumber industry. Their oldest son, Joseph was born there at home, in 1937. Their son Vernon was born in Klamath Falls in 1939.
Mrs. Wirth took a business course at the start of World War II and worked as the boss’s secretary at Lamm’s Lumber Co. until the mill closed after the war ended.
The Wirths moved to Ashland in 1947 and spent many happy years there. Mrs. Wirth became active in the First Methodist Church and the PTA. She and her husband were Cub Scout leaders in their sons’ troop and for several years after. Their daughter Wilma was born there in 1952.
Mrs. Wirth’s father and uncle both lived on the Ashland property and raised large vegetable and flower gardens, berries and fruit and nut trees. She did a lot of canning and cooking and she and her husband loved to host gatherings for their extended family and friends at their home, cooking for the “clan” and spending hours playing pinochle or Scrabble and enjoying each other’s company. Mrs. Wirth was an accomplished seamstress and used her treadle sewing machine to make clothes for her immediate family and many nieces and nephews. She even took a tailoring class to learn to make coats and ladies suits. She also crocheted and embroidered beautifully.
She loved to read and became interested and informed in many areas. She also had regular correspondence with many relatives and friends.
Mrs. Wirth worked as a part-time bookkeeper at Siskiyou Lumber Co., then in a bookkeeping office in Ashland after her daughter started school. The family had to leave Ashland in 1965 to follow the lumber job market into Northern California. They lived in Truckee, Grass Valley, and Susanville and settled in Truckee. While living there, Mrs. Wirth was a bookkeeper for the Public Utility Co. and an office manager for the Sierra Sun Newspaper.
After her husband retired in 1976, they moved to Sweet Home to be near their son Vernon and his family. She enjoyed many hours of cooking for a hungry crowd while they were remodeling and adding on to their home; and of course, during the holidays. The Wirths traveled across the country and back, visiting relatives and friends and enjoying their retirement. Their niece and her husband, Doris and Wayne Wiley, planned a 50th wedding anniversary party for them in Ashland in 1981 and that was a highlight for Mrs. Wirth.
After her husband died on Nov. 10, 1985 she devoted herself to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. After breaking her hip in 2001, she spent many hours crocheting afghans and donated them to the military organizations at the Veterans Club, and to children through SHEM.
Mrs. Wirth is survived by her daughter, Wilma (Roger) McElhiney; daughter-in-law, Marlene Wirth; 16 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband; both sons, Joseph A. Wirth Jr. and Vernon E. Wirth; one daughter, Wanda Arlene; two sisters and two brothers.
Funeral services were March 27 at Workman & Steckly Funeral Chapel, with burial at Gilliland Cemetery and a gathering afterwards at the Veterans Club. Workman & Steckly Funeral Chapel handled the arrangements.