Rose Marie Harsch

Born in Toledo, Ohio, Rosie was the oldest of five children. She later moved to Denver where she owned a restaurant/bar. In 1980, she moved to the Northern Virginia area where she began her real estate career in 1983.

With a passion for the industry and her dedication to assisting both buyers and sellers, she headed up the Rosie Harsch Group at Long & Foster and quickly became a highly awarded Realtor and Top Producer in the region.

Rosie embraced living in the area and was extremely involved with many political and women’s organizations including Fairfax Leadership where she served as Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee and the AIDS Committee.

Over the years, Rosie and her husband, Curt, traveled extensively including to Australia, Europe, Israel, and Banff, Canada. It was through her association and long-time philanthropy work with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis where she had the rare opportunity to attend a fundraiser in the French Rivera city of Monaco. This was a particularly memorable visit for Rosie because she had the amazing chance to meet (and dance with) Prince Albert, the reigning monarch of Monaco, and later lunched with other royalty.

Rosie and Curt’s dedication to the life-saving work at St. Jude was commemorated in 2003 where the hospital honored the couple for their financial dedication with a special ceremony and named a Chemotherapy Room after them. This meant the world to her knowing the room would long be a place of love and care for children and their families.

It was during this time that Rosie and Curt decided to head West to be closer to their children and grandchildren. They chose the growing Las Vegas area, working with Realty Executives and then later Realty ONE Group. She quickly became a real estate top producer and member of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

She embraced everything exciting about her new hometown from its emerging neighborhoods to its world-class entertainment and politics. Rosie was a graduate of the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Las Vegas and thoroughly enjoyed meeting and becoming friends with a wide variety of political, civic and business leaders. She was a staunch ‘political junkie’ and over the years worked on many campaigns canvassing in Las Vegas for a variety of political candidates.

She also continued her long-term philanthropy work with St. Jude in Memphis and St. Jude’s Ranch for Children in Boulder City and participated in yearly adopt-a-classroom programs filling backpacks and buying pallets of books for underserved classrooms.

Rosie’s amazing, easy spirit shined brightly with her family, in her career, and throughout her philanthropy work. She rarely said ‘no’ when asked and did all she could to help whoever was in need. She treasured family reunions in Las Vegas and absolutely enjoyed taking loved ones to see shows, concerts and sporting events in the area.

Rosie is survived by her husband of 45 years Curt Harsch; children Jeannie Eckenrode (Doug Youtman) of Denver, CO; Margie Stites Riddle (Craig) of West Jordan, UT; John Jones of Orlando, FL; Law Jones (Jen) of Woods Cross, UT; Jennifer Jones (John McKinnon) of Oakland, CA; step-daughters Laura, Tracy and Sherrie Harsch; five grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; her sister Margaret Smith of Los Gatos, CA; brother Asa Aarons Smith (Noreen) of South Carolina; numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews; her beloved grand four-legged fur babies, and many distant cousins and dear friends. Rosie is preceded in death by her beloved sister Elizabeth Horner and brother Abner Smith.

The family would like to thank the many caregivers at Mountain View Hospital, the Life Care Center of Las Vegas, Brighton Hospice, and our angels from Helping Hands who provided Rosie with exceptional love, friendship and comfort up until the end.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Monday, August 19, 2024, at Unity of Las Vegas (Center for Spiritual Living), 4325 N. Rancho Dr. Suite, 110, at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Rosie’s name (Memorial ID# 24076768) to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. To make a donation, please visit the Memorials and Dedications page at www.stjude.org/give.