Rose Ellen Roosevelt

Rose Ellen Pinal Roosevelt passed away on January 6, 2021. Rose was born on April 21, 1930 to Jacob Pinal and Charlotte Kahn Pinal by her family corn fields next to Blue Springs in Carrizo Canyon.

She attended the Fort Apache Boarding school, the new culture of the boarding school environment was not an easy transition. She would frequently escape to her Canyon to return to the familiar culture and the language she understood. She lived her entire life on the Reservation, where she married Randolph Lawrence Roosevelt in 1948 and started a family.  They had eleven children together.  She was a homemaker, farmer and skilled artesian.  She crafted beautiful handmade traditional Cradleboards for her family, relatives and others.

She would spend her time in her beloved canyons gathering materials and would lovingly craft cradleboards, each as unique as a snowflake.  In 2000, her skill was recognized and honored when she received the Arizona Indian Living Treasure award. She won multiple awards whenever her cradleboards were entered into shows.  She is pictured in the February 1980 issue of National Geographic building a cradle board as her grandson Rex is swaddled in one of her creations.  She was invited to share the beauty of our N’dee culture across the world and traveled to France and Great Britain, where she was pictured in a newspaper. Always, Carrizo Canyon was where her heart and soul lived and thrived.  She took great pride following in the footsteps of our ancestors by growing traditional N’dee food in family fields in Carrizo. There she gathered wild foods and grew a variety of crops, Corn, Beans Squash, Melons, Peaches and more to provide for her family.   She loved spending time in Carrizo Canyon with her family, enjoying the bounty of her harvest and telling stories, laughing next to a fire as she prepared food for family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband Randolph Roosevelt and her children Rudolph “Rednose” Roosevelt, Eleanor F. Roosevelt, Rhonda Roosevelt, Melinda Roosevelt and Charlene Roosevelt. 

She is survived by her daughters Marjorie Roosevelt Hess & Bill Hess, Lee Ann Roosevelt, Janet Roosevelt Craig & Emerson Craig, Valena Roosevelt, Darlene Roosevelt and son Stephen Roosevelt.  She leaves behind 16 grandchildren:  Jacob Hess, Caleb Hess, Rex Hess, Melanie Hess, Lisa Hess, Tamera Craig, Uriah Craig, Cole Craig, Jade Craig, Rene Zospah (Kim), Erik Zospah, Sky Morrison, Lisa Hoksbergen, Jennifer Roosevelt, Elaine Noah, Roselyn Wyatt, Daniel (Sugar Ray) Truax; 20 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.

A public viewing at Owens Livingston Mortuary, 320 N. 9th St, in Show Low, will be held on January 18, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM.  Please follow all COVID-19 precautions. The family will hold a private burial ceremony afterwards.

In the future when it is safe the family will hold a public memorial to share memories and enjoy the company of friends and family.