Rosemary Ann (Lynch) Hermans' Obituary
Rosemary Ann Lynch Hermans
December 20, 1933 – August 29, 2025
Rosemary loved life and had good health and happiness. Not to be defined by roles or age, she was active through her eighties, visiting with family and friends, dancing the night away and celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day with Irish tunes and corned beef and cabbage each year as far back as anyone can remember. Rosemary, 91, died peacefully on August 29, 2025, following a courageous battle with the effects of a cerebral stroke. She was born in New York City where she spent her early life before being adopted by her parents Josephine and Bernard Lynch and moving to the Merrimack Valley. She attended Saint Patrick’s School, played basketball and frolicked at the seashore. Her career began at the Bell Telephone Company, continued to Bon Secours Hospital and completed at the Internal Revenue Service. In 1956, Rosemary married James Hermans and they welcomed five children. Rosemary loved to cook and host family holidays. She also loved to read, was an early adopter of Sue Luby yoga, led the local Brownies and was active in Saint Theresa’s amateur theatre group.
In addition to being an exceptional mother, grandmother and great grandmother, nana was also the best of friends. She worked hard to remain connected to her friends from high school, to her neighbors, and the many new friends she met along the way. Rosemary was preceded in death by her parents Josephine and Bernie, partner Bob Christiansen, husband and friend Jim, and daughter Ellen. She is survived by her daughter Catherine and husband Thomas McGurren, daughter Mary Beth, her son James, daughter Susan Hermans, grandchildren Sean Cairns and his wife Samantha, and Carly Rose Bueno Hermans, and two great grandchildren Layla and Calvin Cairns.
While she retired to a quiet but active life, she remained busy at her beloved Methuen home cultivating flowers and a vegetable garden. It was not unusual to see her mowing the lawn in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter even through her eighties. She also enjoyed camping at the Salisbury State Reservation, traveling to New Mexico and California, and seeing movies with her lifelong friends.
Rosemary’s family will hold a celebration of her life from 9:30 – 10:30 AM on Thursday, September 4, 2025, at the John Breen Memorial Funeral Home, Inc., 35 Merrimack Street, North Andover, MA, 01845. Her services will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the funeral home. Burial will follow in Saint Mary's Cemetery, Lawrence, MA. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Make a Wish Foundation (wish.org) which she supported for many years.
What’s your fondest memory of Rosemary?
What’s a lesson you learned from Rosemary?
Share a story where Rosemary's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Rosemary you’ll never forget.
How did Rosemary make you smile?
