Tributes and stories in honor of Frank Rose

I never met Frank Rose, but I’m so grateful for him. Many years ago, he was my grandmother, Betty Harmon’s, Pastor at Sunrise Chapel. Thanks to Frank, Suzanne Coughlin, and Sunrise Chapel, Betty was able to write and informally publish the story of her life in “The Long Pathway.” Her memoir has been an invaluable […]

Thank you Reverend Rose for almost 25 years of marriage! The loving, pre-marital counseling has helped us stay together for many years! We also miss having the annual vow renewals with you. Lots of wonderful memories!

Best wishes to you and your family as you settle in to life without Frank in the same room or a phone call or email away. Of course, he is closer than before, but it often doesn’t feel that way. We are privileged to have a watercolor from both his time in Kitchener and in […]

My memories of Frank Rose are exactly from Close to the beginning of his service in Great Britain. My first sight was of him unfolding like a jackknife from his tiny British car! Immediate joy followed. I was 13 having just arrived from Sweden, 1955, his boys camps at idyllic English rivers and fields, Compton […]

I drove from Tempe to enjoy walking with Frank and a couple of his talks on plants and even a birthday celebration at Tucson AZNPS meetings. Frank’s experience and appreciation of the beauty around him/us was palpable. Walking with Frank, I was struck by his deep enjoyment of the beauty around us. This is something […]

Dear Friends, Who are you, and how are you? It is easy to spend time planning what to say next. Listening is harder. It takes effort and attention. I have heard lawyers say “only ask a question that you know the answer to.” Someone here recalled Frank saying “donʻt ask a child a question that […]

Wow, what’s not to fondly remember… from childhood Purp stories in Caryndale and weekly visits to the pastors office in grade 6 for goofing around. One time rumours had circulated that I was to receive the strap for repeated clowning around offences, and on my way to his office, I wasn’t quite sure what I […]

Thank you for sharing that beautiful celebration service. Wonderful memories of an uncle and friend. Frank and Louise saved my life. My life has been and will forever be different because of them I love you all.

we will miss our dear uncle Frank.

I became Frank’s life-long fan and admirer dating from the 1960 British Academy Summer School. He led a nature “ramble,” paused, pointed to a flower by the path and said: “Who could make something like that?” In 2005 our 40th anniversary trip took us to Tucson. Frank took us on a mountain hike, pausing to […]

All of us just want to be accepted where we are and be loved. Frank Rose 🌹 spent a lifetime loving me…Imperfect, sinful me. I think I was 13 or 14 when I first had a relationship with him. Through his sermons, Arizona Mountain Camp, hikes, & Purp stories, he and I connected. It’s true, […]

We were camping this weekend in an Italian National Park that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. You would have loved it, especially since all the wild flowers were in full bloom. We think of you often when we come across groves of wild flowers on our hikes due to your artistic talent and knowledge of flowers […]

I remember knowing Frank as a young girl in Caryndale (Kitchener) when he and Louise lived in the manse and he was our Pastor. It seems unbelievable to me sometimes that he was responsible for introducing my dad Christopher Smith into the church, and paving the way for my dad to leave England and go […]

When I was about 8 or 9, he came to our house to visit. I remember sitting on the couch with him as he traced my profile and decided on a nickname for me: Dale-face-Pale-face-Gingerale-face. When I first went to the British Academy Summer School in 1967, he and Uncle Don were both serving in […]

How often are people my/our age privileged to encounter another father image? Frank had 20 years on me and didn’t start botany until retirement, a lesson in itself. He told us he’d paint flowers and usually didn’t know what they were, so he studied up and fixed that. Another lesson. His life experience was vast […]

I first met Frank and several family members many years ago at Maple Leaf summer camp. When Frank asked you how you were he didn’t want to hear “fine” he really wanted you to look inside yourself and from your heart understand how you really were and what would make yourself whole if you were […]

Frank was my mentor, teacher and friend. I could fill a book with all the experiences we had together – Laurel, Tucson, Kitchener, Bryn Athyn and much more. I heard there is a new summer camp beginning up in heaven. Well done good and faithful servant. Sending love. Tom

I was blessed to meet Rev. Frank Rose almost twenty-five years ago. We worked together as collegues and remained in touch as friends. I was often a visitor at Sunrise Chapel for many years. He once told me that i was the first ordained females he had worked with. I invited him to be Vice […]

What a joy and honor it has been to have met and learn from Frank! Frank and Louise have brought so much wisdom, compassion, and love to everyone around them and for that reason they became role models for me and many others. I participated in many spiritual growth groups led by Frank and I […]

I feel blessed to have known Frank. Not only did I gain insight into the natural world from his flower walks and books but humanity, love and kindness flowed through him like a beautiful light. I treasure his memory.

On a warm summer evening, Frank greeted me with a big smile as he walked from Friendship Hall towards Sunrise Chapel. I was a newcomer attending my first Spiritual Growth Class. He said that he has been painting all day. “You must be tired,” I replied. Frank said that he loves painting. I asked what […]

Frank was a well-loved and highly regarded member of the Native Plant community in the Tucson area. He attended our Arizona Native Plant Society meetings regularly, and he was always such a kind, generous presence, greeting people so warmly and sharing so freely his love and knowledge of local plants. Many of us have wonderful […]

Rest In Peace Mr. Frank Rose You were such an inspiration and a great example for loving the mountain and all creation. You knew every living plant and tree up here. You were absolutely an amazing teacher and artist. You were our teacher to our kids on the mountain and to all of us adults. […]

I have had the honor of knowing Frank since I was a young child. Always ready with a funny story to tell. He became my Spiritual leader while the Pastor in Caryndale (Ontario, Canada) and Louise became a role model, helping me learn to raise and be a loving mother of two precious children. My […]

Although I was not able to spend a lot of time with Frank, I know that he and Louise both had a major impact on my spiritual life. I have come to inhabit particular niches within the church universal; me being involved with these niches was either a direct result of their pioneering efforts, or […]

Frank was one of the wisest, gentlest and most patient humans I’ve ever met. His endearing character helped open the door to Swedenborg’s teachings for which I re-payed him with scores of questions all of which he had an answer to. He continued helping others into his last days until he was too weak to […]

For over 40 years, Frank traveled up and down the Catalina Highway and along the trails of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Many feel privileged to have shared precious hours with him in this incredible natural environment. He once told me how much he felt the presence of God in nature. I think he was reflecting on […]

Mr. Rose baptized me in France in 1959 and then was my minister in Caryndale for a number of years. He brought a lot of energy, humour and new ideas to our society. I have several of his paintings. He was a truly original man and definitely left his mark on me! Best wishes to […]

Frank’s light and beauty was unmistakable from the first time we met. We knew each other briefly, but I felt loved and seen. He graciously received the same from me and that says so much about a person. He was generous with his attention and wisdom in the ultimate gift of sharing one’s soul honestly […]

I was so blessed to come across Frank and his wildflower hikes on Mt. Lemmon. We reveled in going up the mountain to learn, to hug, to see the mountain through Frank’s eyes. He was a kind, gentle, easy-going man, with genuine interest in what surrounded him. His watercolors and books showed his passion for […]

Finding the right person at the right time can really help guide us on our path. I was living with an alcoholic, working Alanon and trying to understand what it meant to have a spiritual life. It was a hard time for me and he helped me so much. He counseled me, I took his […]

My story about Frank is both very short and very long. I am lucky enough to have one of his paintings and that will make us long term friends. It greets me and gives me great joy every day. The colors take hold of my eyes and I can feel the spirit of someone who […]

I’m really going to miss Frank as he was the person who brought me back to religion. He was truly a person who I simply loved and cherished and he will be greatly missed. After traveling in England with Frank and Louise for two weeks, I really got the feeling for where he first started […]

We hiked with Frank for many years. In addition to his extraordinary knowledge of Mt. Lemmon and native flowers he was very concerned that you received value from the hike. Every hike he had a list of flowers we might see on the route. I have never seen such preparation for any hike or event […]

Frank’s influence on my life cannot be measured. At Maple Camp he listened to us. He respected us. He accepted us as we were. I believe my dedication to a spiritual life started right there at Maple Camp. As an adult, my husband and I attended his and Louise’s well-crafted spiritual growth groups, listening to […]

Frank is a great Connector. I suspect the next time we’re on Mount Lemmon and we’re wondering which way to go, or struggling to recall the name of that wildflower we have seen so many times… if we are very still… we may be able to hear his guidance. Frank taught me to listen in […]

I first met Frank and Louise Rose back in the 1970’s when our family was attending Almont Church camp in Michigan. When I moved to Tucson in 1993 I was delighted that the Rose’s were there and were in the process of building Sunrise Chapel. Frank married Mickey and I in 2007. We have since […]

Pastor Rose married my husband and I 32 years ago next month. He was kind, delightful to be around and demonstrated authentic caring. He told us his marriages came with a “lifetime guaranty”!! He holds a special place in our hearts and wishing all who will miss him and were touched by his kindness, lasting […]

From the very first time I came to Tucson, attended a service, I felt Sunrise Chapel could be my spiritual home. But it wasn’t Frank’s sermon that eventually brought my husband and I to Tucson. I fell in love with the mountains on a hike Frank led up into Mt. Lemmon. Over the years, on […]

He touched so many lives in every country he lived and travelled in. I cannot say how glad I am that our lives coincided here in the Santa Catalinas north of Tucson. My thanks to Andrea for making that connection happen.

I was privileged to work with Frank on a show at the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild’s Gallery in the summer of 2019. Being with Frank was to feel special. His generosity of spirit and willingness to give of whatever was needed to make his show a success was so evident in the beauty of the […]

My first memory of Frank is of a lanky young minister, newly ordained and full of enthusiasm. He was always singing ‘Every Little Breeze Whispers Louise…’ We knew what that meant! He would fold himself into his Mini, with his knees about level with the steering wheel, and travel off to visit people on ‘The […]

I was blessed to attend a class that Frank held at his church a couple of years ago. I didn’t know him prior to the (2 session) class, but it didn’t take long to know this man was special! Special in his love for others and oh, so artistically talented! My gift was in spending […]

I did not know Frank well, but have known him through the watercolor guild for many, many years (I joined in 1974). I bought one of his small watercolors from the last show he had at the watercolor gallery, and will treasure it even more now. He was a gifted artist, and a kind and […]

It is truly sad to learn that our dear friend and mentor has passed on – we could read between the lines of his last couple of emails over the past year that he seemed to know his body was giving out after all the years of exploring and life. What a loss of a […]

Dear Frank, I know you’re in heaven now looking down and guiding us asvyou continue to share SO much of yourself with us… your knowledge, yes, but more importantly your kind heart. Mr Rose you have now earned the most beautiful if wings. “When you come to the edge of all that you know, you […]

Many years ago, it may have been close to 30, I traveled to Tucson in the winter to attend a weekend conference held at Sunrise Chapel. I was living in the far north of BC Canada at the time and planned my trip for an extra day in the sunshine and warmth, knowing I would […]

We met Frank when we were in our teens. He was the pastor in Kitchener, Ontario where my (now) husband lived. Frank’s approachability, good-natured fun, wisdom and humility sunk deeply into both of our hearts. We always relished an opportunity to be with Louise and him. I remember how special our confirmation service with him […]

I first met Frank and Louise when I moved to Tucson in 1993. Whenever Frank approached me, he held his arms wide and gave such a warm embrace and looked at me like I was the very person he was waiting to see. I had the privilege of attending several of his spiritual growth groups […]