Dedicated and concerned about others until the end – that was Rosalin. She passed away on January 1st and her life was celebrated at a memorial service on January 24th. In attendance were all the women with whom she worked at the Passaic Ave. home where Ros has been serving as Assistant Manager for nearly 6 years. In addition, more than 20 of her colleagues and residents from other agency homes joined her family and friends in paying tribute to her life of service.
Ros was hired in 2018 and worked as a Direct Support Professional (DSP) in JSDD’s Millburn and Maplewood homes until 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In March of 2020 she was re-assigned to support the residents at the Passaic Avenue home and went above and beyond to keep the four women who lived there healthy and safe.
Her dedication, commitment, and genuine caring won over the hearts of all who knew her.
There was no other choice when assigning a new Assistant Manager to the home than to promote Ros to that position. She embraced her role and the women who lived in the home embraced her as she supported them in pursuing their goals and becoming full participants of the community. It wasn’t only her own residents, however, who she considered in her work. She organized all agency activities and brought together the agency’s homes for creative and social opportunities like sip ‘n paint days.
A spiritual woman of great faith, Ros was involved in her Church community and was always working to make the world a better place. She cared deeply about her family and considered her friends, other members of her church, as well as her residents and colleagues at JSDD to be her extended family. She was especially proud of her trip in October 2024 to Kenya to minister to families in need. When she returned from her time away, she regaled us with stories of the people she met and how she was changed by the experience and grateful to have had the opportunity, hoping to return one day to participate in another mission.
Prior to joining the residential team at JSDD, Rosalin worked for 20 years as a Lead Teacher at a Daycare Center. For some, the transition from working with infants and toddlers to working with adults can be a challenge. Many are tempted to approach adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities as if they were children. Ros understood the need to empower the people she supported and treat them with the dignity and respect of adults making their way to being as independent as possible.
Rosalin’s legacy is one we all can aspire to achieve… a life of giving of ourselves to others, caring about others, believing that everyone of us can make a difference for those we touch every day and that life is a gift. I believe that Ros would tell us, if she could right now, that her life was enriched through her work and relationships. Our lives were, most certainly, all enriched by knowing Rosalin Bogar.
May her memory be a blessing to all who knew her.