Rose Northup

Rose Mary (McDermott) Northup passed away peacefully, at home with her family, on 3/23/22. She was born on October 25, 1926 in Manhattan, NY. She was the eldest of three daughters born to Teresa Farrell and Thomas McDermott. Rose lived on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx and graduated from St. Mary's Catholic school. Following high school, she attended a secretarial school. She married Bob Morelock when she was 20 years old; and over the next 25 years, they designed and built their home in Malta Ridge with their own hands. In addition to being a part-time construction worker, she worked full time at GE as an executive secretary.

At 55, she resigned from GE to realize her dream of being her own boss.  She started her own word processing and later, typesetting business called, "The Last Word." The name is very apropos as she was not only well known for always having the last word, but usually being right, much to the consternation of those around her.

When she was 73 years old, she attended an Old-Timer's reunion for employees of Malta Test Station. At the reunion, she reconnected with a co-worker, Robert Northup. They married in May of 2000 and traveled extensively on cruises to Alaska, Hawaii, and Asia until his death in 2007.
Rose was notorious for her sweet tooth. Her morning breakfast typically involved a Coca-Cola and a chocolate bar. Cookies and candy were always by her bedside and reading chair. She showed her love to her friends and family through baking and was known for her homemade black and white cookies.

Rose was an avid bridge player throughout her life. She played bridge at the Quakertown Senior Center and impressed the other players with the facile manner she used an Excel spreadsheet to compute their scores and maintain statistics. She was a voracious reader as well as maintaining her passion for crossword puzzles, sudoku, and cryptograms until a month before her death.
Rose is survived by her three children: Cay (David) Coffin, Tom (Joan) Morelock, and Rob (Pam) Morelock; five grandchildren: Jeff (Krista) Cardini, Melissa (Bryan) Trombetta, Viktor Morelock, Thomas M. Morelock, and LauraRose Morelock; and nine great-grandchildren, seven nieces and nephews and 18 great nieces and nephews.  She was predeceased by her parents, two husbands, two sisters, one niece, one nephew, and one great nephew.

There will be no viewing hours and services will be private for the family. Naugle Funeral & Cremation Service has been entrusted with the arrangements.

This obituary was lovingly composed by Rose's family.