Rosemarie Ehrhardt

Rose Marie Ehrhardt, 40, of Moline, IL, died on Wednesday, January 27, 2010, at Trinity Medical Center-7th Street in Moline, IL. Visitation will be Monday, February 1st, from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., at Wendt Funeral Home in Moline. Services will be Tuesday, February 2nd, at 1:00 p.m., at the funeral home. Burial will be in National Cemetery on Arsensal Island in Rock Island, IL. When Marie Ehrhardt, devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, was called home, she quietly slipped away after a long time of suffering, on a day she didn't pick, but knew was coming. Born RoseMarie Grantham, to a young military couple in Frankfort, Germany, on the 7th of June, 1969, she lived the Gypsy life of a military daughter, garnering a runner-up Miss Teen Alabama award, and becoming one of the first female firefighters in Maryland. Her Gypsy life ended when her travels brought her to Cheyenne, Wyoming. There she met her husband, Steve, and formed a family... three daughters and a son. She was a stay-at-home mother and homemaker, home-school teacher for the children, college student, and hyperactive participant in all things charitable. She served as President of Head Start (Cheyenne), was a board member of NEEDS Inc, a member of the fund-raising committee of the HIV Awareness Resource Team (HART) Center, a crisis counselor, Regional Head of ABC Quilts, and a frequent donor to "Locks of Love". She was a renaissance woman who canned food, gardened, quilted, went ballooning, and participated in cattle drives. In the last years of her life, Marie focused on the truest love...caring, and wanting the best for others. She opened her home for dozens, and touched the hearts of hundreds. In the last weeks of her life, she quietly reached out to anyone she felt she had hurt, and apologized for long-forgotten grievances. On her last day, she rose early to make her husband coffee before he left for work, saw children off to school, and played with her grandchildren. Then she slept until she was called home to rest in the arms of the Loving God. Marie is survived by her husband Steve; children Amber, Alisha, Steven, and Audrea; her grandchildren Faye Rose and Tristan; her father William "Jerry" Grantham; her mother and step-father Darlene and Bill Duncan; brothers William "Jerry" Grantham and Dwayne Grantham; and her beloved "Nanny Bowman". To all those who will miss her, take heart... she has earned her rest and reward.