Charmaine L. Rose, 89, died peacefully of complications from pneumonia on December 21, 2019 in Concord, NH, where she lived for the past 13 years. Charmaine grew up in Pittsburgh PA, the fifth of the seven children of Emma (Lewis) and Harold Rose.
She attended Antioch College in Ohio where she met and married Warren Bennis ’51, a pioneer in business leadership studies. They moved to Cambridge MA and Charmaine graduated from Boston University with a degree in Psychology in1954. Charmaine and Warren divorced several years later, but they remained life long friends. Charmaine worked in the early days of computer technology for Lincoln Labs at MIT and its spin off, Mitre Corporation. Later she worked for Honeywell. In the 1960s she shifted the direction of her career and was awarded an MSW degree from Simmons College in 1965.
A few years later, Charmaine decided it was time to leave city life in Cambridge. She found her dream home, a 100 year old farm house with an attached barn, in Warner NH where she lived for 30 years. Charmaine combined her social work and computer backgrounds as an information systems analyst/programmer with what is now the NH Department of Health and Human Services.Retirement gave Charmaine the opportunity to more deeply pursue her many and varied interests. She was a long term active member of the Granite State Doll Club where she held several positions. She was a passionate collector of Sasha dolls, and a doll clothing designer and maker. She was a member of the Songweavers Women’s Community Chorus in Concord for many years.Charmaine explored the big spiritual questions of life through the study of astrology, numerology and other metaphysical arts.
She was interested in crystals, rocks and minerals and their beauty and healing properties. She practiced meditation, yoga and vegetarianism beginning in the 1950s and ’60s, long before they became mainstream. She was an independent thinker and an early feminist.Charmaine was a beloved friend and mentor to many over her lifetime. She was an attentive listener and engaged those around her in fascinating, thoughtful conversations. She cared deeply about her friends and family as well as the state of the world.Charmaine was the beloved aunt of 14 nieces and nephews and many great nieces and nephews spread all over the country. She will be profoundly missed by her family and many devoted friends.
A celebration of Charmaine’s life will be held in May in the Concord area. Details will be available on the Bennett Funeral Home website.