Rosemarie Senft Fetler, born in Kaiserslautern, Germany on June 8, 1936 to Walter Senft and Katharina Jacob Senft, passed away peacefully at home on February 10, 2023, with her family by her side. During WWII, from the age of 2 until she was reunited with her parents at the age of 15, along with her brother and sister, Rosemarie was raised and educated at Kinderheim St. Nikolaus, a children’s home in Landstuhl, Germany.

As a young woman, she met and married an American soldier and native Texan, Melton May. In November 1957, she immigrated to the United States with their infant son, Frank, and they settled in Texas where she lived for the remainder of her life. Following divorce, Rosemarie married Colonel Philip Fetler, USAF of San Antonio in October 1992, and they remained married until his death in February 2013.

Rosemarie was an exceptionally gifted cook who made incredible traditional German and French-influenced cuisine from scratch without recipes. Her signature dishes were Rinderrouladen “Rouladen”, Schnitzel, Sauerbraten, potato pancakes, potato dumplings, red cabbage, sauerkraut, buttermilk pancakes and amazing desserts.

In addition to being a remarkable family chef, she was a gifted seamstress and needleworker who created airplane bassinets for Braniff Airways, and did private dressmaking and alterations. Throughout her life Rosemarie was an avid animal lover, and in her later years she devoted her time to animal rescue. Everyday, she would wake up at 4am and go to Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio to humanely capture feral cats in order to have them spayed or neutered. If animals had social media, we are sure they would have posted about Rose. Looking back, they must have had some way to know of her kindness since many animals in need found her.

Rosemarie is preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Reinhold, her sister, Renate and her great-grandson, Tyler Weaver. She is survived by her children, Frank May, Mary Houghton, Patrick May (Kristy) and Kristel Humphries (Matthew); her grandchildren, Nicole McCoy, Amanda Morstad, Michael Morstad, Madilynn Humphries and Zachary Humphries, and her great-granddaughter, Lillianna Saldivar.

Her dry wit, many talents and devotion will be missed. To honor her and provide comfort, we will share stories, thoughts and memories at a Remembrance and Celebration of Life luncheon. See Events Tab for details. 

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In lieu of flowers and if so inclined, a donation may be made in the name of Rosemarie Fetler to Austin Pets Alive - See Gift Tab for details.

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