Obituary of Rosa Ortiz McGrady

Rosa (Rosie) Ortiz was born at St. Monicas Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona on August 30th, 1946. When she was little her family worked on a farm near Glendale and then moved to El Mirage where she grew up. She attended Peoria High School where she graduated. She was active in sports and numerous extracurricular activities. After graduation she worked for Household Finance and then moved to LA for a short period of time. Shortly after that she moved back to Phoenix where she got a job for the City of Phoenix as a secretary. In September of 1971 Rosie started dating Mike McGrady who was going through flight training at Williams AFB. They were married in St. Gregory Catholic Church in Phoenix on April 8th, 1972. Mike and Rosie were first stationed in Sacramento where she worked for Household Finance. Their next assignment was in South Carolina for Mike’s RF-4 training and then they moved to Austin, Texas for their first operational assignment. There Rosie got a job with the City of Austin. In spring of 1975 they were assigned overseas in Okinawa, Japan. While they were stationed in Okinawa Rosie got to travel to places like Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. On June 5th, 1977 Rosie gave birth to Sean David McGrady while they were stationed at Okinawa. Mike and Rosie’s final assignment was back to South Carolina. When they left the Air Force Mike got a job with the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington and they moved to Federal Way. Rosie then gave birth to her daughter Jennifer Michelle McGrady on May 18th, 1981. Rosie ran a day care at her house while Sean and Jenny were young. When her kids started school at Adelaide Elementary she started to volunteer there. She was hired as a Library Clerk at the Adelaide and held the job for about 17 years and then in 2003 she switched jobs and became a secretary at the school. After moving to Federal Way, Mike and Rosie became members of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. Rosie started teaching Sunday school for children for many years. Later on Mike and Rosie became members of Northwest Church in Federal Way. Rosie taught Sunday school to children there and was a counselor at the church’s Royal Family Kids Camp. Rosie had a passion for children and touched many young lives over the years with her joy, happiness, love, and faith and it was hard not to smile while in the same room as her. In October 2003, Rosie was diagnosed with colon cancer. For the past three years she fought a valiant battle. At 09:50 AM on Christmas morning she went home to be with her heavenly father. When she passed, Jenny said that Mom went to celebrate with Jesus on His birthday. Rosie had a strong faith in Jesus as her Lord and Savior and she was a walking testament to that because it showed in her everyday life. Rosie was a woman of strength and courage that was evident in everything she went through. She had a gift of encouragement and joyfulness that spread to whomever she came in contact with and a selflessness that touched many. Rosie is survived by Mike, her husband of over 34 years, her son Sean (age 29), her daughter Jenny (age 25), all of Federal Way, WA and her two brothers Gilbert and Jose, Jr. whom live in El Mirage, AZ. A memorial service will be held at 10 AM on Saturday, January 13th at Northwest Church, 34800 21st Ave SW, Federal Way to celebrate Rosie's life. Arrangements by Edwards Memorial Center 253-566-1008