Rosemary Rawls Prewitt
92, Chattanooga, Tenn.
There will be a private family celebration for Rosemary Rawls Prewitt, 92, of Chattanooga, Tenn., who passed away on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024.
She was the kind of person that everyone who met her remembered her. She had auburn hair that turned a shiny rose gold instead of gray, and her blue eyes twinkled with joy when she saw you. She loved to wear bright colors, swishy hats cocked just so and sparkly vests or broaches especially at Christmas.
She loved life and made the most of it. There was no just running into the grocery store for five minutes. She always saw people she knew and stopped to talk to them. She also talked to people she didn't know, making new friends wherever she went. And the way she could make a check-out clerk at the grocery store feel special, she made her family feel every day. She was a fun mom. She is the reason we dance in the kitchen with our kids and sing show tunes on road trips.
She was raised in Columbia by her mother, Ida Rawls, with her two older brothers. Ida, our Mamaw, was a force of nature and opened a boarding house and restaurant in 1940 after her husband died. It became a renowned southern-style restaurant called the Round Table.
She had been classmates and friends with John Prewitt since elementary school, but their romance really started at the end of their senior year at a Juke Joint in the woods where they had to go to properly cut-a-rug. They both graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi. Her first job out of college was as the first woman teller at a bank in New Orleans while John was off training to be an officer in the Navy. They married in 1956 and had a wonderful life and many adventures together living in Hawaii, New Orleans, Baltimore, Chicago, Boston, Albany and Dalton, Georgia. While raising a family, she worked as a school teacher, as Executive Director of the American Heart Association of Southwest Georgia and as a volunteer in the community. After retiring, Rosemary and John traveled around the country.
They have two daughters, Bridget and Ann; sons-in-law, Dave and Don; five grandchildren, Dryden, Jonathan, Whitman, Emerson and Thor, and one great-grandchild, Josh. She was affectionately known as RoRo to her grandchildren and the name stuck.
She was always the life of the party. She was vivacious, funny and kind, a southern belle who grabbed your wrist, gently teased and laughed boisterously. She made everyone love her. If we heard it once, we heard it a million times, “I love your mom.” To say she will be greatly missed is an understatement. We love you, RoRo!
In lieu of flowers and to honor her leadership and compassion, you may donate to the Women's Foundation of Mississippi. John is doing well and living at Morning Pointe on Shallowford in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Arrangements by Heritage Funeral Home, East Brainerd Chapel.
