Jewell Rose

Jewell Lynn Patram Rose was born in Petersburg General Hospital on October 4, 1944. I lived in Colonial Heights with my parents, sister, Phyllis and brother, Claude Forrest. I was the baby of the family. Claude F. married Nancy when I was eight. I was supposed to be the flower girl, but I had the measles! I remember how sick I was. My grandmother stayed with me and brother and Nancy visited us after the wedding. I moved to Lynchburg when I was five. My father changed his job, and we weren’t sure if we would stay. We rented a room in a house owned by a mother and daughter. They were very nice Christian Science ladies. My father went to work. My mother and I walked or took the bus to wherever we wanted to go. There was a drugstore which served delicious burgers not too far away. We rented an upstairs apartment in a house directly across from my elementary school. It was owned by an older couple Mr. and Mrs. Hackworth, their daughter, Grace and granddaughter, Mary Jane. We lived there until we moved up the street one block and my parents bought a house less than a block from my school.

I never really liked school. Cried of kindergarten days. Did okay until the fourth grade. I told the teacher I was sick (I felt terrible) and asked her if I could go home. She said I could! I was surprised but went home as fast as I could. Told my mother. I went to bed. Hours later the school called trying to find me. Apparently, the teacher thought I had asked to go to the bathroom! My mother got me up and dressed. We went to the doctor (by cab I think). He said I was sick with School Phobia. We should go to school and talk to the teacher, Mrs. Landrum. She was an older teacher and was trying to get control of a class who had a young teacher the year before who had a very little control of the class. I think she scared me because she was so strict. We talked and we got along great the rest of the year. I went to the fifth grade in the same school, Ruffner, where I played viola in the orchestra and softball at recess. In sixth grade, we were divided into two different schools. Several other students and I were sent to a school in the better part of town. The rest of the class was sent to a school that would now be called inner city. I enjoyed my new class for about a week, and it was close enough for me to ride my bike. It was Friday afternoon, and everyone was getting ready to go home. Some woman (principal?) called me into the hall. She told me that I had to take all my things with me, and I would be going to the other school on Monday. So, I had to make the long bike ride home with all of my stuff wondering what I had done wrong. I didn’t know that during that day, my mother had taken on several parents and the superintendent of Lynchburg Public Schools!

Jewell started teaching in Lynchburg with her mother. She first started teaching in Colonial Heights at Flora Hill Elementary School. She started teaching at Tussing the year we got married in 1975 and retired from Tussing in 2005. Phyllis started teaching preschool Sunday School while Jewell was that age at Highland. Later, Jewell started teaching the same group with Phyllis. Later, Sarah and Jewell taught the same age group for about 10 years. She also served on various committees at church over the 47 years we were married.

Jewell is preceded in death by her father, Claude Forrest Patram Sr.; her mother, Sarah Ellen Anderson Patram; brother, Claude Forrest Patram Jr.; sister, Phyllis Elaine Patram Williams; brother-in-law, Samuel Williams and niece, Carol Lee Patram Farllow. She is survived by her loving husband of 47 years, Gary Wayne Rose; her daughter, Sarah Christy Rose and nieces and nephews, Mike Bryant Patram, Claudia Lynne Patram, Bruce Thompson Patram (Joyce) and Ava Patram.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, October 28, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at Highland United Methodist Church, 125 E Westover Ave, Colonial Heights, VA 23834. Interment will follow in Woods United Methodist Church Cemetery, 7200 Hickory Road, S. Chesterfield, Virginia. The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 27, 2022 at the Colonial Heights Chapel of E. Alvin Small Funeral Homes & Crematory, 2033 Boulevard, Colonial Heights, Virginia 23834. The family respectfully requests that all attendees to services wear masks. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Highland United Methodist Church food pantry fund or their stained-glass windows fund (building fund), 123 E. Westover Avenue, or to ActBlue – Political Contributions, www.actblue.com .