Senior Spotlight: Rose Leonardo

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I was born July 1, 1918, in Fresno, on the west side then called Russian Town. My parents were descendents of Germans from Russia who settled on the Volga River.

There were six children in our family. When I was 9 years old, we lost our father. Mother never remarried. At this time there were three children at home.

Our summers were spent harvesting seasonal fruit from the Valley to Hollister. It was hard work, but this provided us through the winter.

In 1937, I married Louis. We had three children, Louis Jr., Jerry and Judy. We lost our daughter at the age of 7. Over the next 20 years Louis and I were in the grocery business and had several well-known grocery stores in Fresno, with the best known as Leonardo Meat Market. Louis became a federal meat inspector, and we moved to San Francisco in 1967. I worked at Raython until 1969 and then Schlage Lock, from where I retired in 1977. In 1989 we moved to Clovis.

We were married for 54 years when I lost my husband.

My two sons and daughters-in-law are always at my side and very dear to me. I have four wonderful grandchildren and five beautiful great grandchildren. I am blessed with a wonderful, loving and caring family, for which I give thanks every day.

I like dancing and playing cards, and I have several groups I play cards with weekly. My great grandchildren are now ages 18 to 22, so my babysitting duties are over, but they keep me busy with all their adventures and activities. All five great grandchildren are in college and a great joy for me. My hobbies are crocheting and traveling. I also keep busy.