A little boy asked his aunt about her job. She answered, “I am a secretary. All I do is look like a doll, think like a man, act like a lady, and work like a dog.” Perhaps the demands have been a cause of brief tenures of such assistants while the rewards and love of the labor have produced longer terms. Few, however, have served in one office as long as Rose Patterson.
Upon the insistence of Charles Coil, Rose began her duties as the secretary for the Salem church of Christ in 1971. She is retiring from that service this spring. The church will honor her on our “Homecoming Day,” Sunday, April 26. During her tenure with the Salem church, sister Patterson served the Lord alongside nineteen different elders, forty-six deacons, twenty-three missionaries supported by the local church, fifteen youth ministers, and thirteen different full-time local preachers. There is no way to number the bulletins and announcement sheets she edited and printed, the letters and lessons she typed, the phone calls and appointments she made, or the details and arrangements she handled. She may eventually be replaced. We all are replaceable. But she will be sorely missed, for she is so much experienced and appreciated.
Rose Ellen was born to parents, Jesse W. Saxton and Maye Hoover Saxton, at their home on County Road 8 in Lauderdale County, Alabama. In her youth, she lived in a house behind the Salem meetinghouse. Her dad served the Lord as an elder. After high school graduation, she attended Larimore Business College where she learned her secretarial skills, but she thinks she never really used anything she learned in school except for shorthand which was soon lost after computers came along.
Rose and Franklin Patterson grew up together and were married on December 30, 1960. To that union were born two children, David and Rebecca. After marriage, sister Patterson worked for a probate judge for a brief time before being a stay-at-home mom for nine years. Franklin and Rose lived in a house beside the Salem church building for one year before moving to the place where Rose Ellen continues to live. To their family were added Jacque, the wife of David, and their children, Maegan, Jacob, and Ashton, and Greg Darby, the husband of Rebecca, and their children, Dylan and Colton.
In addition to her secretarial duties, Rose has enjoyed teaching Bible classes for fourth grade students and junior high girls. Her hobbies include flower arranging, antiquing with her sister, Kathy Younger of Alexandria, Virginia, reading, music, and spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Of her tenure with the Salem church, she said, “It has been a spiritually growing experience.” She has really enjoyed working with most of the preachers located here but a few were a little hard to handle. “The innovations through the years have been great,” she says as she thinks of the additions of calculators, computers, word processers, phone systems, and printers.
Of the thirteen gospel preachers with whom Rose has labored locally, many have spoken about their fondness of sister Patterson. Aaron McDonald said, “She was the most helpful secretary I ever had besides my wife. She would do anything I asked her to do. It was a genuine pleasure to work with her.” John Pigg added, “Of all the secretaries I’ve had, Rose Ellen was the most evangelistic and conscientious. She knows the church of Scripture, the local church, and the community. She always set the right example. You can trust her to do what is right.” Perhaps Caleb Cunningham said it best. He wrote, “Rose has been a tireless work for the Salem Church of Christ ever since I first met her in April 2005. She often came to work early and stayed much later than asked of her. Since she prepared the bulletin and announcement sheet each week, she kept me informed on people in the congregation, community, and about church happenings. And whenever I just needed to talk to someone, she would always listen to me with empathy. She also covered for me without complaint whenever I was late on getting a bulletin article to her. Though many elders and preachers have come and gone over the years, Rose has been a mainstay for Salem. I’m very thankful that I got to work with her during that time.”
Please be with us for our Bible classes and worship of God on “Homecoming Day,” Sunday, April 26, beginning at 9:00 AM. We want you also to have lunch with us and be a part of the early afternoon worship assembly that will follow lunch. And, help us to honor Rose Patterson for her labor of love and forty-four years of serving the Lord as the secretary of the Salem church of Christ.
–Andy