I Made It My Goal to Be Obedient to Jehovah

My grandparents learned about Jehovah’s Kingdom promises in 1906 just after they lost a son to diphtheria. Their doctor was a Bible Student, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known. He shared the Bible’s comforting hope with them, including the hope of the resurrection. As a result, my grandparents, my mother, and my mother’s sister became Bible Students as well.

For many years, those relatives were zealous for the truth. The women even served as usherettes when the “Photo-Drama of Creation” was shown in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Sadly, though, Mother was the only one who continued serving Jehovah. This was not easy for her because the family had always been close, worshipping together until the 1930’s. Mother’s loyalty and obedience to Jehovah made a big impression on me, as did the example of my father, who was also a faithful Bible Student.

I was born in 1927, the first of six children. All of us stuck to the truth. Father was a carpenter, and we lived in a comfortable home on the outskirts of Chicago. We had a big vegetable garden, and we kept chickens and ducks.

I enjoyed working. One of my chores was to darn the family’s socks. Darning isn’t done much these days; but back then, socks weren’t thrown away when holes appeared. The holes were darned, or mended, with a needle and thread. Learning such skills proved to be invaluable, for I did a lot of sewing later in life.

My Parents Set a Fine Example

My father made sure that our family never neglected spiritual matters. So we attended all the Christian meetings, regularly shared in the field ministry, and considered a Bible text every day. On Saturday evenings, we had our family study of the Bible, using The Watchtower.

In order to give a good witness to our neighbors, Father set up an electric sign inside our living room window. Manufactured by our brothers, it advertised a public talk or one of our publications. The light inside the box flashed on and off, which attracted the attention of people passing by. Father also attached two signs to our car.

By word and example, my father taught us children the importance of obedience to Jehovah. Mother supported him in every way. She also began serving Jehovah full-time as a pioneer when my youngest sister was five years old, and she continued to pioneer for the rest of her long life. I could not have asked for better parents.

Life back then was quite different from what it is today. We had no television, so my siblings and I would sit on the floor and listen to the radio, which broadcast some exciting series. Above all, our family enjoyed the spiritual programs that Jehovah’s organization broadcast by radio.

Conventions, Phonographs, and Sandwich Signs

We loved attending conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses. At the convention held in 1935, we learned that the “great crowd,” who survive “the great tribulation,” mentioned at Revelation 7:9, 14, have the hope of living forever in Paradise on earth. Prior to 1935, both my parents partook of the Memorial emblems. After that convention, however, only Father did so. Mother then knew that her hope was, not to rule with Christ in heaven, but to live forever on earth.

In 1941, at a convention in St. Louis, Missouri, Joseph Rutherford, who took the lead in the work back then, released the book Children. The applause was tremendous! I was 14 years old and had been baptized a year earlier. I vividly remember lining up with the other children and walking onto the platform to get my copy of the book.

In those early years, the ministry was different from what it is today. In the 1930’s, we used portable phonographs to play recorded Bible talks for householders. Before knocking on a door, we would wind up the phonograph and make sure that the record and needle were in place. When the householder came out, we would make a brief presentation, play a four-and-a-half-minute Bible talk, and then offer literature. People in our area listened respectfully. I don’t recall that anyone was unpleasant. When I started pioneering at 16 years of age, my father gave me my own phonograph, which I proudly used in the ministry. My pioneer partner was a fine sister named Lorraine.

Information marches were another form of witnessing. For a time, we called these sandwich-sign parades, because we would wear two placards, one on the front and one on the back. They carried slogans, such as “Religion Is a Snare and a Racket” and “Serve God and Christ the King.”

Our meetings prepared us for opposition and taught us what to say in defense of the truth. And opposition did come. For example, the first time we offered our magazines at a busy shopping area, the police hauled us off to the police station in a van. We were released several hours later, happy to have been persecuted for our obedience to Jehovah.

Marriage, Gilead, and Military Call-Up

In time, Lorraine introduced me to a brother named Eugene Rosam, whom she met at an assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Eugene grew up in Key West, Florida. When he was in the tenth grade, he was expelled from school because he refused to participate in a patriotic ceremony. He started pioneering right away. One day, he met a girl who was a former classmate. Because Eugene had been an outstanding student, she wondered why he had been expelled. His Scriptural answers led to her accepting a Bible study. She took the truth to heart and became a faithful sister.

Eugene and I got married in 1948. We began our married life pioneering in Key West. Later, we were invited to attend the 18th class of Gilead School, which graduated in early 1952. Spanish was taught in one of the classes, so we expected to be assigned as missionaries to a Spanish-speaking country. But that did not happen. While we were at Gilead, the Korean War was raging, and Eugene was called up for the army. This was a surprise because he had been given a minister’s exemption during World War II. Now, as a result of this call, we were told to stay in the United States. I wept with disappointment. Two years later, Eugene finally received his exemption. That setback, however, taught us a valuable lesson—when one door shuts, Jehovah can open another, which he did. We just had to be patient.

Traveling Work and Then Off to Canada!

In 1953, after pioneering in a Spanish-language congregation in Tucson, Arizona, we were assigned to the circuit work. Over time, we served circuits in Ohio, California, and New York City. In 1958, we began in the district worka in California and Oregon. Our accommodations were in the homes of brothers. Then, in 1960, we went to Canada, where Eugene served as an instructor for the Kingdom Ministry School for congregation overseers. We stayed in Canada until 1988.

One of my favorite memories of our time in Canada involves a family that a sister and I met in the house-to-house ministry. We first met the mother, Gail, who told us that her sons were upset because their grandfather had died. “Why did he die?” they asked her. “Where did he go?” Gail had no answers. So we gave her the Bible’s answer by sharing comforting scriptures with her.

At the time, Eugene was serving the congregation as a circuit overseer, so we were only there for a week. The sister who was with me, however, went back to see Gail. The result? Gail accepted the truth, as did her husband, Bill, and their three boys—Christopher, Steve, and Patrick. Chris is an elder in Canada. Steve is an instructor at the Bible school facility in Palm Coast, Florida. And Patrick is a member of the Branch Committee in Thailand. Over the years, Eugene and I kept close to the family. I am so happy to have had a small share in helping them come to know Jehovah!

From Hospital Visits to Hospital Liaison Committees

While we were in Canada, Jehovah opened an exciting and fruitful new door for Eugene. Let me tell you about it.

Years ago, our stand on blood transfusion was misunderstood and led to much negative publicity. Newspapers throughout Canada ran stories alleging that Witness children were dying because their parents denied them blood transfusions. My husband had the privilege of helping to counter such misleading reports.

Just before the 1969 international assembly in Buffalo, New York, Eugene went with several brothers to the major hospitals in the area to explain that some 50,000 Witnesses from Canada and the United States would be at the convention. Should a serious medical issue arise, it would be beneficial if the doctors understood our position on blood and saw how reasonable it was. The brothers gave the doctors articles on nonblood medical management from respected journals. The doctors’ positive response motivated Eugene and some other brothers to begin proactively visiting hospitals in Canada. They also helped local elders deal more effectively with medical emergencies.

Little by little, those efforts saw fruitage. In fact, they were a precursor to something we could not have imagined! How so?

In the mid 1980’s, Eugene got a phone call from Milton Henschel at world headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. The Governing Body wanted a program already functioning in the United States to be expanded to provide information to more doctors. So Eugene and I moved to Brooklyn, and in January 1988 the Governing Body established a department at world headquarters called Hospital Information Services. Later, my husband and two other brothers were assigned to conduct seminars, first in the United States and then in other countries. Soon, Hospital Information Departments were established at the branches, and Hospital Liaison Committees were formed in various cities. I cannot imagine how many Witnesses and their children have benefited from such loving provisions from Jehovah. While Eugene was conducting seminars and visiting hospitals, I worked at the local Bethel, quite often in the sewing room or kitchen.

My Greatest Challenge

In 2006, I faced my greatest challenge—my dear Eugene died. How I miss his love and companionship! What has helped me to endure this trial? A number of things. For example, I stay close to Jehovah through prayer and regular Bible reading. I listen to the daily text discussion with the Bethel family. I read the Bible chapter from which the text is taken. And I keep busy in my Bethel assignment in the Sewing Department, which I view as a privilege. In earlier years, I even had the opportunity to help make drapes for Assembly Halls in New Jersey and New York. I now serve at Fishkill Bethel, where I do alterations and other smaller jobs.b

To me, the most important things in life are to love Jehovah and to obey him and his organization. (Hebrews 13:17; 1 John 5:3) I’m glad that Eugene and I made those our priorities in life. As a result, I have every confidence that Jehovah will reward us with endless life on a paradise earth, including the joy of seeing each other again.—John 5:28, 29.