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Rose Zapora Payne, affectionately known as Rosie to some and Mamarose to others, was born on June 10, 1932, to the late Robert and Cora Holmes. She was the third child and first girl from Robert and Cora’s union. She also was very proudly Robert’s ninth child and first girl, Robert having been previously married to Ruth, a union that brought forth six boys. Rosie was educated in the Philadelphia school system and graduated from Bok Vocational Technical School, where she excelled in bookkeeping. Her life dream was to become an accountant. Although she was unable to finance the obtaining of that degree, she did not let that stop her from dabbling in the accounting world. In fact, one of her first jobs was working at the Internal Revenue Service. Armed with a little knowledge from the IRS and her natural accounting knowledge, she quickly became the family tax preparer and later for scores of people. Rosie was quite a rebel - so much so that she ran off and eloped with her boyfriend, the late Edgar Milton Payne. From this union came two beautiful daughters – Rose (“Zebbie”) Payne and Wanda Goodloe. From the time of their birth, Rosie’s life was devoted to her daughters. She was a lioness, to put it mildly, and she made sure that they had absolutely everything this world had to offer, starting with the best education. Rosie was passionate about education. All during their young lives, her daughters knew that nothing less than an “A” was acceptable – so they brought home nothing less. Eventually, Rosie’s career path took her to the Social Security Administration, where she worked for 30 years. Less than a year after her retirement, Rosie found herself once again on the battlefield. This time her fight was to save her community. What began one night as a street vigil to shut down a crack house (for that one night) turned into a nearly 25-year campaign against drugs, poverty and violence – without any compensation. Yet, this is where she found her great purpose! She associated with the Dixon House to help run education and family development programs. At the same time, she associated with Eighteenth Street Development Corporation, where she help run and administer a first-time homeowners program. Under her guidance and tutelage, scores of young, single mothers found homes and children were sent to summer camps, where many of them spent outside the city limits for their first time. On the anti-drug front, Rosie was equally as fierce. She was no respecter of person and had no fear. She didn’t care who the attacker was that she went after. She received many awards and accolades from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia for her valiant efforts on the community front. It was in 2009 when she moved to San Antonio, where she began a physical fight for her own life. But it wasn’t long before she was back on the battlefield, this time galvanizing a group of senior citizens at an out-patient pulmonary rehabilitation center. Every Tuesday and Thursday – for many years – her senior constituents waited for her to show up at the center to jump start their exercises. Their treat afterwards was a hearty lunch at Black Eye Pea. Sadly, Rosie’s health began to deteriorate over the past 18 months, and she succumbed to her illnesses on April 15, 2024, in the presence of her sister Hazel, two daughters Zebbie and Wanda and her grandson James. Rosie will be missed but not forgotten. The family would like to thank Rosie’s longtime friend and companion Angie Arellano for her love, dedication and great care. Rosie leaves to cherish her memory her sister Hazel, her two daughters Zebbie and Wanda, her grandson James, her nieces Ruth and Tammy, her nephews Jonathan, Gregory, William and Darryl and a host of other relatives and friends.

Tributes

Rose Z. Payne

June 10, 1932 - April 15, 2024