Author: Rosemary E. (DePasquale) Boykin
Born: Jan. 3, 1926
Died: June 15, 2008
Dates: May 22, 2009
Bio: Rosemary Boykin passed away gently and in peace on Sunday, June 15, 2008, in College Station, Texas. She was born and raised in Dickinson, Texas, near Galveston and is the daughter of the late Genevieve Elizabeth (Teti) and Domenic Victor De Pasquale. Her parents were extremely
active in civic affairs and very well thought of in Galveston County where her father had been County Engineer
for 33 years. During that time he was the principal engineer for the construction
of the Galveston Seawall. He was a graduate of Texas A&M, Class of 1924, and received his Master of Science degree at Cornell University the following
year. While there he met and married Genevieve, a native of Termoli, Italy, just before his return to Dickinson.
During her high school years, Rosemary was quite active in the symphony, school paper (having served as editor and art editor), science club and dramatics team, for which she received an award for best actress in the regional district.
Rosemary graduated at the age of sixteen, ranking third in her class and the following fall entered Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, embarking on a biological science degree with the intent of enrolling at Southwestern Medical School within that same city. In her junior year, she decided to transfer to the Art Department
to fulfill the necessary requirements for medical school and training in Medical Art. She was influential (actually as an experimental student) in initiating the degree plan for the Medical Art degree at Southern Methodist University.
While at SMU, Rosemary was a member of Alpha Delta Pi and the Catholic Newman Club. She assisted in the teaching of biology students in the Navy V-12 units. Her biological drawings were often
used as teaching aids in other classes. She was also quite active in intramural tennis and volleyball and was almost persuaded to take a major in physical education.
Rosemary received her Bachelor of Arts degree at the age of twenty. During her last semester, in March, of her senior year she met Calvin Clay Boykin, Jr., who had just returned from three years of active duty in World War II in the European theater of operations.
He saw action in France, Germany and Holland, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a sergeant and in charge of a recon section of the 814th Tank Destroyer Battalion attached to the Seventh Armored Division. Cal had come to Dallas to visit his boyhood friend who was dating Rosemary's sorority sister. Both were medical students at Southwestern Medical School. A blind date was set for a medical fraternity dance to be held that weekend in downtown Dallas. She accepted and they dated continuously until their wedding day the following June 30, 1946. Rosemary had graduated from SMU the previous Tuesday evening. Their garden wedding was held at the DePasquale home in Dickinson. They were married by the Rev. Thomas A. Carney, who wore his special robes of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher.
The couple set up housekeeping in Bryan and then in college housing while Cal finished his studies toward his degree in Range and Forestry. Later, they returned to Texas A&M University so that he could obtain his Masters degree in Agricultural Economics. Although
his work with the Soil Conservation Service and Agricultural
Research Service took them to New Mexico and California they always maintained a home in College Station.
While residing in College Station, Rosemary worked for thirteen
years in the Department of Oceanography and the Spacecraft Oceanography project in Remote Sensing (Texas A&M Research Foundation).
Rosemary was proud of her Italian heritage. During the late 1800s when many Sicilian/Italians were coming to the Brazos Valley, her paternal grandparents met in Steele's Store and were married by a priest from St. Joseph's Church. Afterwards, they moved to Dickinson,
Texas, the family home site. The Steele's Store community has always been a special place for Rosemary and after interviewing
a number of residents and former residents of the community she published The Italians of Steele's Store, Texas. Later, she published
the interviews in their entirety. As a member of the Brazos Genealogical Association and the Brazos County Historical Commission, Rosemary was instrumental in obtaining a Texas Historical
Marker for that community. She also published a listing of passenger
ships leaving Palermo, Sicily and arriving in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1859-1909. Birds of Passage is an annotated listing of almost 24,000 immigrants and associated data on CD.
During her employment with the Department. of Oceanography & Meteorology; & Sea Grant Program Rosemary coauthored four technical publications dealing with the hydrography of the Gulf of Mexico. She worked on “special projects” which included the compilation of Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, a 300-page facts book on the Texas coastal zone. This publication was designed as a reference source for marine writers and was written for laymen rather than scientists.
Rosemary was an active member
of the American
Society for Oceanography (1964-76) having served as secretary for the local chapter for one year; a member of the Marine
Technology
Society (1972-76); International
Oceanographic
Foundation
(1976-80); and a member of the Special Libraries Association, Texas chapter (1974-75).
As their children grew older and married, Rosemary and Cal left their home to spend ten years working for the U.S. Agency for International Development and, for a short time, for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
They worked two years in Syria and eight years in Southern Africa. During this time, Rosemary initiated the Garden Project for women in Botswana and children of a school for the blind in Lesotho. Both projects were funded by the A&M Garden Club and the United States Embassy, In addition, Calvin had various
short-term assignments in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Iran and Ecuador. He returned to those countries many times.
One of Rosemary’s last achievements was receiving a Bronze Certification of the President’s Volunteer Service Award, a division
of the Points of Light Foundation. She spent well over 100 hours volunteering for her daughter, Anne, by clipping articles of historical interest for Project HOLD, the City of College Station’s Historic Online Library Database.
Rosemary is survived by her husband, Calvin Clay Boykin, Jr., her children: Karen Lee Peterson and husband, David, of Mission, Texas and Tecoman, Colima, Mexico; Elizabeth Anne Boykin of College Station; C. Clay Boykin III and wife, Laurie Bell of Austin,
Texas; and Thomas Heath Boykin and wife, Katyla Mariela of College Station.
Rosemary is also survived by her seven grandchildren: Lance Arvid Peterson and wife Marcella Cardenas of Tecoman, Colima, Mexico; Daren Ray Peterson and wife Jennifer of Lubbock, Texas; and Ryan Peterson of Mission; Tamara Anne Gunter of Austin, and her brother, Thomas Arthur Gunter, his wife April of Austin; and Brandon Heath Boykin and his sister, Kensey Lee Boykin of College
Station. Rosemary is survived by great-grandchildren: Carmen
and David Peterson Cardenas; Thomas Allen, Ava Delaine, and Forrest Calvin Gunter. Other family members are Rosemary's sister Dolores Jean and husband Hugh McCorkle of Euless, Texas, and her brother Donald Victor DePasqual and his wife, Louise, of Dickinson, Texas. The family wishes to express their sincere appreciation
to Dr. Richard Morgan, Dr. Pollachi Selva, Dr. James F. Cooper, her favorite nurses at The Med, the staff of DaVita, and Texas Home Health Care.
Pallbearers will be Rosemary’s grandchildren: Tamara Anne Gunter, Thomas Arthur Gunter, Daren Peterson, Ryan Peterson, Brandon Boykin, and nephews Reed Allen, Monty Langston, and Victor DePasqual. A visitation and rosary was held Monday, June 16, at Memorial Funeral Chapel in College Station. A funeral mass will be held Tuesday, June 17, at 10 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Catholic
Church in Bryan with burial immediately following at College Station Cemetery. Donations may be made to Catholic Relief Services,
228 West Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-3443 or http://catholicreliefservices.org.