Rosemarie Garman

Former Resident of Oakland

Rosemarie Garman, 87, passed away peacefully on January 16, 2022 in Santa Cruz, California. She is survived by her beloved husband, Craig Garman, their children Mark Garman and his wife Susan Garman; Brooke Garman Cohan and her husband Steve Cohan; grandsons Travis Cohan and Taylor Cohan; as well as siblings Donald Shank and Karen Shank Chilson. A loving and generous woman, she was passionate about her family, community, the arts, and animals.

She was born March 24, 1934 in Missoula, Montana and moved to Lafayette, California at age 11. She lived there with her mother Helen Shank and stepfather James Shank until graduating from Acalanes High School and then attending UCLA, where she met and fell in love with Craig, later marrying in 1960. Rosemarie and Craig first lived as a young married couple in San Francisco, both working at Macy’s, and later settled in Oakland to raise their family. She became a prolific volunteer for local schools, the Oakland Civic Theater and the Oakland Museum, where she served more than 30 years as a history and art docent, as well as a longtime White Elephant Sale worker.

She and Craig were avid UCLA sports fans, enjoyed traveling, collecting art, and adopting dozens of cats and several dogs over the years. They moved from Oakland to Carmel in 2015, enjoying the beach and local art scene, and finally moved to be near family in Aptos in 2019.

A memorial celebration will be held in the future. Memorial gifts in Rosemarie Garman’s memory can be made to the Oakland Museum of California’s Annual Fund.