Rosalie Sims, 70, Bergholz postmaster, longtime Jewett resident

Rosalie Sims, a former rural letter carrier who became postmaster of the U. S. Postal Service post office in Bergholz, Ohio, died May 16, 2008, at age 70.

The longtime Jewett resident died of complications from bladder cancer at the James Cancer Center at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, just 16 days after her 70th birthday and 16 months after retiring from the post office.

She was born Rosalie Jane Miltak in New Eagle, Pa., on April 30, 1938.

The 1956 Monongahela (Pa.) High School graduate became accustomed to taking care of family at a young age, when she took care of her youngest sister while their single mother worked.

When Rosalie started working for Pittsburgh National Bank in downtown Pittsburgh after high school, she used her paycheck to help financially support the family.

She worked hard to provide for her own three children while raising them in Jewett, Ohio. She held a job at a nearby steel mill before becoming a rural letter carrier for the Jewett post office in 1979. She worked six days a week, delivering mail to the residents of Jewett, Germano, Annapolis and New Rumley.
Rosalie also managed to take college courses as a part-time student and graduated with an associate’s degree in accounting from Jefferson Technical College in Steubenville, Ohio.

As a rural carrier, she drove through snowdrifts, changed numerous flat tires and battled a variety of vehicle maintenance problems.

Rosalie moved through the ranks in the post office to become postmaster at Bergholz . She retired in January 2007 after nearly 30 years of postal service.

The grandmother of four often served as an anonymous Santa Claus. She gave gifts of money or items that struggling working-class families could use. She did so without taking credit, merely signing cards: From Santa.

She taught her children to care for others, stand up against injustices and do what is right.

Rosalie lived in Jewett for 32 years and was in the process of moving to New Philadelphia, Ohio, at the time of her death.

She died without any regrets, her family said.

Rosalie was preceded in death by her father, Stephen Miltak; mother, Catherine Allen; stepfather, Otto Allen; and sister, C. Adrienne Rotta, who died May 28, 2007.

Rosalie is survived by her son, Stephen, his wife, Rebecca, and their three children, Aaron, Austin and Alyssa; daughter, Venetia, and her husband, Jeremy King; and daughter, Adrienne, her husband, William Wallace, and her daughter, Lindsey Story; and her sister, Alana Baranick.

Koch Funeral Home of Scio, Ohio, handled arrangements.

This obituary was prepared by the family and was originally posted on ObitsOhio.com on May 11, 2009.