“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” La Rosa Darleene Pate, age 76, the Spanish Rose, departed this earth and entered into heaven’s majestic gates on Saturday, April 11, 2020. La Rosa was born on March 17, 1944 in Terre Haute, Indiana to Hobert Bush Sr. and Thelma May Bush. As a child, La Rosa exhibited and scored a genius level IQ with an academic prowess that received her a double-promotion in elementary school as to which she was able to skip two-grade-levels. As a young child, La Rosa or “Rosie” (as she is also known by) would help her brother, sister and many neighborhood children with their studies.

During her younger years, she showed her love for education by teaching people how to read and championing the belief that everyone has a right to an education and she dedicated her adult life to showing everyone she could how to achieve that very greatness. Many nights, as a child, she dreamed of becoming an English school teacher and later achieved that dream by graduating with Honors and distinction from Indiana State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Master’s Degree in English and History. While at Indiana State University as a student, she rushed and pledged to the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority where she found a true sisterhood of like-minded African American women who excelled at their academics just as she had. She loved this sorority’s adherence to the promotion of superior academic excellence and their engagement in philanthropic initiatives.

La Rosa’s illustrious teaching career expanded over 30 years with high success rates of student retention. She began her teaching career at School 69 in Indianapolis. After some great years at School 69, she found a need for her skill-set at Sarah Scott Junior High School. She once recounted of how her students at Sarah Scott Junior High would adhere to the subject matter with a true zeal for learning. La Rosa took a brief time away from her career to continue to raise her children with her loving husband. She later learned of an opening in the English department at Terre Haute South Vigo High School. The position was more lucrative in nature. She interviewed and prayed daily that God would grace her with this positon and the Lord answered. La Rosa revamped the English department’s curriculum and worked extensively with the theater department.

Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet were notorious plays that La Rosa was instrumental in having performed at South Vigo High School. Often times, La Rosa would have her children and neighborhood children learn various parts in plays and perform them in front of family and friends. She expected and demanded a proper execussion from every single performance from her actors in her classroom, on the theater stage, at the church and in the neighborhood. She was a stickler for tonation, phonation and the expressive articulation of every syllable.

La Rosa found a true kinship, harmony and unconditional love for books from various authors of all genres and writing styles. William Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allen Poe, Henry James, Guy de Maupassant, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Walt Wittman, James Baldwin, E. Lynn Harris, Langston Hughes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X., Dr. Maya Angelou, were some of her greatest authors, speakers, muses and inspirations. Libraries become La Rosa’s second home. She found great adventure and splendor in the pages of her favorite books. Before her passing, she was reading Michelle Obama’s autobiography titled Becoming. To her and countless others, Mrs. Obama exemplified intelligence, beauty, class and dignity as a woman and as the former First Lady of the United States. Any time former United States President Barack H. Obama was on the television or former First Lady Michelle Obama, La Rosa would eagerly watch and write notes of their speeches.

 

La Rosa was a master linguist, especially of the English language! She had a panache and great intrigue for the British Aristocracy and high-brow society. Her fascination with foreign languages and cultures grew quite expansive over the years. She wanted to travel to Great Britain in her youth and specifically visit Buckingham Palace and various English museums. Her love for British culture led her to have an admiration for the late Princess Diana. She also loved Paris, France and the articulation of the French language. She was always in awe of the story of African American dancer and singer Josephine Baker who rose to stardom in France.

When La Rosa would give one of her many illuminating and mesmerizing speeches, one could always bet that she would sound like a cross between her Majesty the Queen of England Elizabeth II and famed American chef Julia Child. When asked about her dialect, La Rosa said, “This is how we all speak in academia!” She possessed an extensive vocabulary that could rival that of some of her greatest authors, poet laureates, and even the great orator Winston Churchill would have to take notice.

As she matured, La Rosa immersed herself in the sacred scriptures of The Holy Bible. At Second Missionary Baptist Church, under the leadership of the honorable Reverend Hord, the then presiding pastor, she was called upon by Mrs. Hord to write and direct several of the musicals and plays for various church and Sunday School events where she more than obliged. She was a Sunday School teacher, a Vacation Bible School teacher, a former member of the Junior Missions, a member of the NAACP Terre Haute chapter, a member of the Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club, a member of the Scholarship Committee of her church, a member of the Board of Trustees, and a Deaconess.

As she loved God, she loved her family as well. Her sister Gloria and her brother Hobert Jr. were not just her siblings but were an expression of God to her. The comradery, respect, loyalty and love that they shared together was truly unparalleled. They had a genuine and healthy admiration for one another that lasted beyond her passing. She and her husband Joseph were high school sweethearts who celebrated 56 years of marital bliss. In his college, La Rosa and Joseph learned Spanish and wrote love letters to one another that he still has to this day. They kept their marriage alive by encouraging each other’s greatness and showing their love daily through acts of loving kindness. She loved her children Thelma and Justin so deeply and supported them in all the ways that she could. She instilled in them the virtues and values of being the best people they can for themselves and others. She always believed that the love and respect of the familial dynamic was very important and should be adhered to. In her poem titled Our Mother she said, “Mother leaves a legacy of love for our family, our church, and our community to inspire us all ad infinitum.”

La Rosa is survived by her loving husband Minister Joseph Louis Pate; her daughter Thelma L. Pate; son Justin J. Pate; her sister Gloria Thomas and her husband James Thomas Sr; her ‘baby brother’ Hobert Bush Jr. and his wife Jeneea Jarvey Bush. Her admired and adored nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins and friends all include: Dr. Tracy Kelly and her husband Dr. Patrick Kelly; Dylan Rose Kelly; James Thomas Kelly; James Wesley Thomas Jr. and his wife Leah Thomas; Cameron Thomas; Kendall Thomas; Michael Allen Thomas; Hobert Bush III; Dr. Shannon Bush; Rian Bush; Dr. Erica Pritchett; Johnathan Burges III; Rosetta Moothery; Charlie Moothery Sr.; Tammy Moothery; Linda Waldon; Jimmy Waldon; Candace Gilbert; Caleb Hart; Kenny Gilbert Sr; Letricia “Tree” Greenwade; Jeffery Jackson (RIP); Shirl Morris; Tanya West; Christile Roberts; Chiquita Perry-Brooks; Brock Hudson; Darrell Wayne, Michael Worrell, Ronald Perry; Barbara Lynn Barleston; Pastor James Barleston; Eden Barleston; Rev. Terrence Russell; Rev. Cletus Malone; Mike Potter; Greg Manuel; Robert Steiger; sister-friend Dr. Wynona “Noni” Batton; sister-friend Edythe Washington; sister-friend Brenda Fortson; sister-friend Theressa Bynum; sister-friend Donna Brinton; sister-friend and Delta Soror Claudia Odom; sister-friend & Delta Soror Debra Tyler. She proceeded in passing her mother Thelma Bush and father Hobert Bush Sr.