STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," goes the quotation from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."
There are countless staff and alumni of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, as well as many who benefited from the tireless work of Rose DeFede who know their rose as someone honest, faithful, tireless and talented.
DeFede died at the age of 84 on Saturday at UPMC in Pittsburgh. She became a full-time secretary at the then-College of Steubenville in 1954 and held positions as cashier, accountant, first manager of the bookstore, assistant to the treasurer, first manager of personnel, first female controller, purchasing agent, director of business services, first woman on the president's council, alumni director and a host of other paid and volunteer university and community appointments.
In recent years she was director of community development.
The Rev. Terence Henry, TOR, president of the university, said, "In many ways, she was the heart and soul of Franciscan University. No event on campus seemed complete unless Rose was present."
Her charitable and art volunteerism included the Civic Chorale Society of Steubenville; Steubenville Players; Steubenville Chapter of the Pittsburgh Opera Guild; American Red Cross; United Way of Jefferson County; and the choirs at St. John in Wellsburg and St. Peter's in Steubenville. She also was active in the Alternatives in Motherhood center, which assists pregnant women in dire straits. As a charter member of the Woman's Guild, she helped institute a scholarship for non-traditional female students, awarded to two women from the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson County area annually. The scholarships will now be known as the Rose M. DeFede Memorial Scholarship.
Sharon Maedke, director at AIM, said DeFede was committed to the organization, raising funds through the Franciscan Way and the St. John Altar Society annual baby shower.
She organized and helped preserve the university's history in an archive room at the John Paul II Library on campus. She also catalogued and organized the collection of art displayed in the Tony and Nina Gentile Art Gallery in the university's J.C. Williams Center.
Many of today's senior management and staff at the university were students when they met Rose DeFede, including David Skiviat, vice president of finance, whom she hired as a work-study student after he came to the College of Steubenville in 1976.
"She inspired many people to commit their lives and their life's work to the university," he said. "With the transition from the College of Steubenville to the University of Steubenville (in the early 1980s) to the Franciscan University of Steubenville (in the 1990s), she was part of our whole growth. She came up here from downtown, literally carrying items in boxes."
The school moved from a collection of downtown buildings to its hilltop campus in the early 1960s.
Anita Jackson, director of community relations, recalled DeFede hired her, too.
"I cannot think of anyone else here who is an icon like she was. You have to give her the credit for a lot of its success," Jackson said. "She held so many jobs at one time back in the struggling years here. She helped keep the place afloat."
DeFede often told a story about expressing worries over the school's finances to the Rev. Regis Stafford, who was its treasurer during some of those lean years in the 1950s.
Payroll was due the next day and there wasn't enough money to pay the checks.
"Father Stafford gave me one of those 'oh you child of little faith' looks and told me to go ahead and prepare the paychecks," DeFede said in her interview with the Franciscan Way on her 45th anniversary with the school. "Sure enough, later in the day, enough money came in through the mail and from students paying their bills."
She said it happened more than once and she marveled at the deep faith displayed by Stafford. Her own faith also was recalled by many.
The Rev. Richard Davis, TOR, vice president of community relations, said DeFede was a part of the Secular Franciscan Order, living the life of the values of St. Francis as a layperson.
"People would ask her why she never got married. She'd say, 'I did, when I was young. I married the College of Steubenville when I was a student,'" Davis said.
Jackson noted DeFede's car often was filled with clothing to give to others.
"She would make sure people who needed them had them. She was just a tremendous person," Jackson said. "If the world had more Roses, it would be a lot better place."
DeFede also was known for speaking her mind and letting anyone know just what she thought.
University general counsel Adam Scurti recalled that she worked with every president the university ever had, and her honesty was valued by them.
Davis said DeFede was a humble servant of God who helped people, but she was honest.
"If you crossed her, it was like crossing two electrical wires. You'd get a jolt. She was never afraid to say what she was thinking," Davis said. "But I say that in every respect as a compliment. She really was one in a million. I never stopped thanking God for her presence in my life. She really made a difference in this world, and I am glad I was blessed enough to spend the years I did with her. It was just not long enough."
Acting Dean Thomas Wilson knew DeFede since he was a freshman in 1968. He said his relationship with her didn't change from student to attorney to professor to acting dean.
"Everybody was the same to Rose. She treated everyone the same, no matter what your position is," he said. "The only way to describe Rose is that she was a good, Christian woman. And she was one of those people you never could say 'no' to. Whatever she asked you, you did, including buying a lot of tickets for charity."
Scurti recalled DeFede was a painter, an artist and an excellent seamstress. Co-workers said she made her own clothing for years.
Her musical talents were the lead event at university graduation ceremonies.
"For many years, she would march in procession into the graduation ceremonies, wearing cap and gown, and open the festivities with the national anthem," Scurti said. One of those performances came before Mother Teresa in 1976.
Davis said she wanted to share that love of the arts with anyone, often arranging trips to the opera or Italian or other ethnic cultural events for students.
Carolyn Glaub, owner and founder of the Center of Music and Art, said she first saw DeFede on stage singing "La Donna Mobile" in a talent show on stage at Steubenville High School years ago and later served with her on the Fine Arts Committee at the university.
"I never have met anyone who had such a passion for the arts and an incredible amount of knowledge. Her love of the Gentile gallery showed each time she conducted a tour," Glaub said. She noted DeFede wrote several books about the university that she never had published.
"I just returned the books to her a few months ago. I am so glad I read them. She truly was a historian," Glaub said. She also recalled DeFede's flair for comedy, winning a Red Cross fundraising comedy show as people's choice several years ago.
Her frugality also was legend on campus, with many recalling she would make sure inter-campus memo envelopes were totally used before being discarded.
Skiviat recalled as a student worker, DeFede gave him a stack of interoffice envelopes and told him to turn them inside out and use them entirely.
"I asked her, 'How do you turn an envelope inside-out,' and she took a letter opener, slit the side of the envelope, turned it inside-out and gave me a roll of tape to put it back together. That's how you turn an envelope inside out," he recalled with a smile. "Even with all the blessings we've had around here in recent years, she never ceased to remind me of the importance of being frugal."
B.J. Brehm, secretary to the dean, remembered DeFede hired her in 1978. She recalled the poems DeFede wrote, including many she wrote upon the retirement of long-time employees.
"And every one of those poems she wrote ended with the words, 'On the wings of a white Franciscan dove.' We're going to miss her," Brehm said.
Davis said while many say they cannot imagine the university without her, he knows she has a better view now.
"She is with us forever, and she always is a part of the memory of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and from her vantage point, it is beautiful," he said.
In her own words, DeFede summed up her life for the alumni magazine:
"This has been such a joyful experience. I wouldn't trade it for any career put in front of me with big dollar signs attached. I just hope I'm using wisely the gifts God's given me."
(Giannamore can be contacted at pgiannamore@heraldstaronline.com)
