Obituary of Joan McMahon Rosen

Joan Claire McMahon Rosen, 90, passed away April 14 in McLean, Virginia after a long illness. She was the widow of Captain Ralph J. Rosen, USN (ret.), who died May 11, 2010. Joan was born January 1, 1923, in Chicago, the daughter of John J. McMahon and Eleanor Probst. She attended Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School and Mundelein College in Illinois. She married Ralph Rosen August 2, 1943 in Virginia Beach, Va., when Ralph was in U.S. Navy flight training during World War II. Ralph made a career as a naval aviator after the war, and Joan was by his side as they moved with their family around the country and the world in the years that followed, including two tours of duty in the Washington DC area. She participated in navy wives’ associations and community activities in the many places they lived. In 1975, they moved to Laconia, New Hampshire, where they lived for 32 years. She was an active participant in Republican political activities along with Ralph, who served for eight terms in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. In 2009, Joan and Ralph moved to the Vinson Hall retirement community in McLean. She is survived by her brother, John J. McMahon (Barbara) of Beverly Hills, California; her daughter Mary Bradford (William) of Silver Spring, Maryland; her son John J. Rosen and his wife Ines Trias of Barcelona, Spain; and her son Bill Rosen and his wife Eileen Cahill of Northampton, Massachusetts. She leaves six loving grandchildren: Jennifer, Benjamin, Cristina, Luisa, Lillian and Andrea; three great grandchildren: Eleanor, Liam and Josephine; and many loving nieces and nephews. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at Ft. Myer Memorial Chapel on Thursday May 30, 2013 at 2:45pm. Please arrive by 2:15pm. Interment to follow at Arlington National Cemetery beside her husband. Messages of condolence may be sent in care of her son Bill Rosen, 2 Laurel Lane, Northampton MA 01060.