Rose Horvath

Rose was born in Vecses, Hungary on May 2nd, 1949, but escaped to the United States with her parents, Sandor and Anna, and brothers, Joe and Marty, in 1956. They lived with family in Wisconsin at first, but moved to the Buckeye-Woodland area of Cleveland, or “Little Budapest.” There, she found her love of dancing, starting with Hungarian folk dance at the yearly fall festival at Saint Margaret of Hungary Catholic Church and later going to German Central with friends or even dancing and listening to music at the different bars she worked at. In January 1967, Rose gave birth to David and three weeks later started her career at The Sherwin-Williams Company. Working full time with a newborn was difficult, but Rose never complained and worked hard to provide for her family, to whom she was fiercely loyal.

While Rose worked many jobs, it was her career at Sherwin-Williams where she met some of her best friends. Marilyn Spurgeon, Mary Ann Kinney, Sandy Eagle, Alisa Clemente, and Linda Hunt were just a few of the coworkers who became like family to Rose. Once you were considered part of Rose’s family, she was loyal to you as well, whether it was spending New Year’s Eve in a hospital with Marilyn or visiting Mary Ann and bringing groceries as Mary Ann’s health declined, Rose gave of herself to those she loved. Rose was proud to work for the Sherwin-Williams Company and encouraged David and her brother, Joe, to work there as well. Rose would work for Sherwin-Williams for 48 years before retiring in 2015. 

Rose’s biggest loyalties lied with her children. Whether it was buying David his first guitar, showing up for Bela’s wedding as mother of the groom, or flying down to Texas to ensure Mary didn’t spend Easter without family, Rose was constantly there to support her family in any way possible. She would attend most if not all of David’s gigs, even if it meant driving alone at night into Cleveland and sketchy neighborhoods. In the same vein, she attended almost every volleyball and football game that Mary was involved with. Even when working, Rose would respond to emails daily with her granddaughter, Alexandria, and, after retirement, spend time with grandson Alex after school. 

Rose met the love of her life, Tony Horvath, when she was 12. He was friends with her brothers and she was just a little kid, but a crush was formed. The two finally began their romance in the late 1980s, trying to hide it from David until he turned 18. In 1990, to the surprise of both Tony and Rose, their daughter Mary was born. During her marriage to Tony, their house would grow and fill with love and family. Rose welcomed her mother into their home and cared for Anna until her passing in 2002.

Rose became a grandmother in 2001, when David and Sandra were married. She would regularly invite David’s children Michael and Alexandria over for sleepovers, tea parties and playing with Mary. Rose’s family grew again in 2016 when Mary married Eric, bringing Alex into the mix. In 2019, Rose was excited to welcome her youngest grandchild, Tony, to the world. She stayed at the hospital for days until he finally made his debut and welcomed Mary, Eric, Alex, and Tony into her home as Mary recovered. Two weeks later, Rose had her first heart attack and fell into a coma for 22 days. After being declared unresponsive, Rose decided to prove doctors wrong and started talking. She faced a long road to recovery during the Covid lockdowns and finally became well enough to leave facilities and live in her own home briefly before moving in with Mary.

During the blessing of the last 5 years, Rose never lost her sense of humor or playful spirit. She loved spending time with baby Tony as he grew up: reading to him, playing with him, and being his second favorite jungle gym. Rose only knew the days of the week in relation to Tuesdays, which was Bingo day at the Aurora Senior Center. She would play chair volleyball followed by 5 rounds of bingo, which she would always lose. When she’d hit someone with the volleyball, she’d begin laughing and the rest of the seniors would join in. She’d always bring home treats from bingo for little Tony, trying to spoil him whenever she could. When she wasn’t playing with Tony, Rose was watching Hallmark Movies nonstop. Her favorites, and least favorites, were the Christmas movies. 

Rose’s life was full of miracles. She would want you to remember her by living each day with love and joy. Rose passed away peacefully in her home on November 23rd, 2024.

Rozalia “Rose” Horvath (nee Kiss), age 75 of Aurora, OH. Beloved wife of the late Tony Horvath; loving mother of David Kiss (Sandra) of Mentor-on-the-Lake, OH and Mary Slater (Eric) of Aurora; loving step-mother of Bela Sebestyen of Mentor, OH; dear grandmother of Michael and Alexandria Polinski, Alexander Nash and Tony Slater. The family prefers that those who wish may make contributions in her name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ( www.stjude.org ). A Funeral Service will be held at 11 AM on Tuesday, December 3rd at Brown-Forward, 17022 Chagrin Blvd., Shaker Hts., OH. FRIENDS MAY CALL AT BROWN-FORWARD ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 2ND FROM 4-7 PM. Interment, Highland Park Cemetery.