Rosadel Logelin ’67

(Deceased 12/11/2009)

Rosadel died December 11, 2009 at the Denver Hospice Center. Her whole life was a narrative of love and giving. To have known her was to have had your soul touched. She is already deeply missed by her many friends and her adoring family — Erin and Eric of Providence, Dash and Mikey of Houston, and her husband Tom.

From Jeannie Hammond ’67:
I got a call from Rosadel back during the period when Obama was campaigning to become president. She told me that she had just been diagnosed with aggressive throat cancer. It seemed so surreal: she didn’t smoke and she exercised faithfully. I remember a visit long ago in Denver. She led me on a hair-raising bicycle trip down through major traffic to the YMCA (yep, a bike lane, but still!) where she proceeded to run several laps while I collapsed in a corner, in dread of the bike trip back.

I have admired Rosadel since I first met her freshman year. We went to Junior Year Abroad together, lived in the French House at the same time, and were roommates at the University of Chicago. She was optimistic, graceful, and dedicated to social causes. She met her husband Tom when both were doing outreach at prisons in Colorado.

I know that, after the diagnosis, Rosadel continued to campaign for Obama by telephone from her home, and that her family arranged to have her daughter’s upcoming wedding moved up so that she could be sure to enjoy it. And I know that other family gatherings were planned. She has a fine son and daughter and a devoted husband, and I know they helped sustain her courage and grace.

From Laura Scarlett Bottoms ’67:
Thank you for letting me know this sad and unexpected news about Rosadel. We are only sixty four and I am so sorry to hear of her death. Rosadel invited me to be her roommate in La Maison Francaise for sophomore year. She spent her junior year in France, but we were once again roommates in French House during senior year. Rosadel was a dear friend, and a talented and kind person. She is greatly missed.

From Anne Jansen Aby ’67 
Rosadel Logelin died in December, 2009. I am sorry to have not included a few thoughts on her passing until now. Rosadel was a wonderful friend, loyal, caring, always supportive and helped me pass the language requirement (in French) for my master’s degree in history at the University of Chicago. As someone who literally translated phrases like “Candide died to death by inches” — I needed lots of help–and I had landed in an apartment with 3 classmates from French House! I didn’t really know Rosadel till Chicago, since I was obviously not French House material myself. In Chicago I lived in a new U of C graduate women’s dorm in 1967-68. Four of us shared an apartment: Rosadel, Jeannine Hammond, Karen Wagschal Montaperto and I, all of us having graduated from Carleton in June 1967. Spring and Summer of 1968 was certainly an “exciting” time to live in Hyde Park and Chicago. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in April led to riots and the National Guard patrolling the streets. By the Sunday after the assassination, Karen bravely ventured out of our apartment and bought a New York Times newspaper which had a map of Chicago and we could finally see where the disturbances were; the local media was just urging us to “keep cool” and stay calm (obviously the internet etc. had not yet been invented). June brought Bobby Kennedy’s assassination and finally August was the National Democratic Convention in Chicago. I missed that last one because I had left to get married in Massachusetts that week. Much later we saw Rosadel and enjoyed meeting Tom when we visited the Denver area–probably Bob was running a race. Rosadel is still deeply missed and will be especially remembered during our 50th Reunion next June. I know her three Chicago roommates will be honoring her.

from Ted Johnson ’67
Rosadel and I married a year after graduation in Chicago during turbulent times–for the nation and for us emotionally. Our protected midwestern family lives didn’t prepare us well for Carleton’s much more radical culture. Our “real life” experiences in Chicago where Rosadel earned her Master’s at the U of Chicago further chipped away at our foundations. My first two jobs challenged every belief I had about the world. Sunday dinner at the club with Rosadel’s parents was torture for both of us. We weren’t ready for marriage. After two years we piled our few possessions into the car and headed west. California beckoned but the car chose Denver where we lived for most of the rest of our lives. We parted on good terms but were greatly saddened by our failure to nurture each other through the turbulence. We remained in touch for many years but once she had children an “ex” is not a comfortable role to be in. I’m sorry to say I didn’t learn of her death til after the fact and did not attend her funeral. That’s among the chapters I’d like to rewrite. Rosadel was a loving and caring person. Her early death was a real tragedy. I’m happy that she was able to build a family with Tom. I’m sure they miss her terribly.