Obituary of Rosaleen Craig Buthod

Rosaleen Craig Buthod (April 13, 1927- April 8, 2015) “Cover lightly, gentle earth”--Ben Jonson Rosaleen Craig Buthod was born April 13, 1927, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, at the height of the Great Mississippi River Flood. The doctor rowed to her mother’s second-story bedroom window to deliver the baby. The fourth of John J. and Mary Holland Craig’s 10 children, Rosaleen moved with her family first to Little Rock and then to Tulsa, where she lived the rest of her life. She graduated from Holy Family High School in Tulsa and attended St. Mary College, Leavenworth, Kansas, and The University of Tulsa, studying English literature and art. She married her great love, John D. Buthod (Jack), in 1948, and with him raised 11 children. In the early 1960s, she helped bring the Great Books Program for children to Oklahoma; in the 1970s she began to indulge in her passion for travel. Most recently she has enjoyed caregiver Kazuko Stell’s gift for gardening. Rosaleen loved babies, flowers, books, music, pictures, champagne, and the stories that weave us all together. She and Jack cared deeply about social justice, passing that concern on to all their children. Rosaleen combined intellectual brilliance with a heart that felt the beat of every other heart. Her gift was in finding the beauty in any thing, the fun in any place, and the kindness in any soul. She is preceded in death by her husband, Jack; five brothers and three sisters; and her infant daughter Maureen. She is survived by her children, Barbara (Dale MacCallum), Diane, Donald (Virginia), Craig (Tomese), Richard (Ellen), Therese (Randy Stell), Michele (Roger Kidson), Amber (Todd Tobiasz), Lee (Keith Trahan), Tynan (Laura Henderson), and Tim; 21 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; her sister, Sister Maureen Craig of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth; countless nieces and nephews, cousins, in-laws, and dear friends. The family expresses deep gratitude to her wonderful caregiver, Kazuko Stell. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Ninde Funeral Home. Visitation will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, April 13, 2015, followed by a Rosary at 7 p.m., both at her childhood parish church, Holy Family Cathedral. The funeral Mass will be Tuesday, April 14, at 10 a.m., at Holy Family. Interment to follow in Calvary Cemetery. The family suggests donations in her memory be made to Friends of Catholic Education, www.dioceseoftulsa.org,a donation-matching tuition assistance program and/or San Miguel School, www.sanmigueltulsa.org.