Rosemary Florence (Awad) Flaherty passed away peacefully at the age of 93 on Sunday, September 22, 2024. She was born on September 19, 1931, in Ashland, MA, the daughter of the late Joseph and Rose (Kadra) Awad.

A 1949 graduate of Ashland High School, she was voted "most versatile" in her class while captaining the Clockers cheerleaders and starting for the girls' basketball squad.  After graduation, she matriculated at Boston University.   Before long, she met her love, the late Paul Gerard Flaherty, while they were both working at the old Howard Johnson's in Framingham.  The couple wed on November 14, 1952, and soon started their family, raising seven children together before he passed away suddenly in 1981.

Rosemary went to work in the payroll department at Zayres before spending the next two decades in the Wellesley College payroll department.   After retiring from the College, she kept busy as the hostess at the former Ashland landmark, Marconi's Restaurant.   Just a short walk from her home on Douglas Road, she lit up the dining room with the smile voted "best personality" by that same Ashland High School class.

She started a new chapter in her life when she moved to the "Top of the World" in Clearwater, FL in 2002 where she lived for more than 20 years.  She loved going to "Frenchy's Rockaway Grill" in Clearwater Beach with family and friends when they visited.  Of course, her fudge recipe was so popular in Clearwater that it was featured in the "On Top of the World News" in 2014.  Not something you'd expect out of someone who spent a lifetime dealing with diabetes, but that was Rosemary.  You can't talk about her time in Clearwater without mentioning her dear friend, the late Howard Bergendahl, with whom she loved to share dinner or any of the social events in the community.

She remained active until her health wouldn't allow it. She exercised regularly until just a few years ago.  Golf played a large part as well.  While working at the college, she enjoyed playing at the Nehoiden golf course, the Wellesley College course which is one of the oldest college golf courses in the country.  In Florida, she was an active member of the "Top of the World" women's nine-hole league.  Of course, the best were her trips to Augusta, Georgia to visit her brother Bobby and walk the grounds of the fabled Augusta National Golf Course as a patron at the Masters'.  She was there in '86 when Jack Nicklaus made his Sunday charge up the leaderboard for that historic 6th green jacket.  More recently, she could be found watching golf on television, at least when it didn't interfere with her Sudoko or Solitaire.

A long-time member of the Ashland Historical Society, who was proud of her Lebanese roots, she was quick to remind folks that Ruth Gibran, who is buried in the Kadra cemetery in Ashland, is Kahlil Gibran's aunt.

In addition to her parents and her husband, she was predeceased by her seven siblings (Al Awad, George Awad, Phil Awad, Ernest Awad, Jamie Awad, Bobby Awad, and Tina (Awad) Morse.   She is survived by her seven children; Terry Miller and her husband Ron (Peacham, VT), Paul Flaherty and his wife Donna (Upton, MA) ; Kathi Daley and her husband Steve (Milford, MA);  Michael Flaherty (Sandwich, MA);  Mary Jo Leahy and her husband Jim (Tolland, CT);  Richard Flaherty and his wife Wendy (West Groton, MA) and Rosemary Flaherty (Ashland, MA).  She was blessed and found great joy in her nine grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and too many nieces and nephews to count.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday Sept. 27th at 11:00am in St. Cecilia's Church, 54 Esty St. Ashland, MA with urn burial to follow in the Kadra Family Cemetery in Ashland.  Visiting hours will be held Thursday from 4:00-7:00 PM in the Matarese Funeral Home, 325 Main St. Ashland, MA.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Rosemary's name to the Ashland Emergency Fund, PO Box 112, Ashland, MA  01721

https://www.ashlandemergencyfund.org/