Lilian Rossol, beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and dear friend to many, passed away peacefully at home with her children by her side on Oct. 21, 2023 from cancer at age 93.
Born on Oct. 30, 1929, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Lilian graduated from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Hamilton in 1954.
In 1957, she was married to Michael J. Rossol, and soon after started a family.
In 1962, Lilian and her husband traveled cross-country from Canada directly to Santa Barbara with their two toddler children to resume her nursing career as an RN at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
In 1968, her husband Michael died suddenly of a brain aneurysm, leaving her to raise her two children single-handedly while holding down a demanding career in nursing.
Wanting to fulfill her dream of further academic achievement, Lilian graduated from the University of La Verne in 1984 to receive a BS degree in nursing management. She retired in 1992 as the nursing director of the Post Anesthesia Care Unit.
During her 30 years with Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Lilian touched countless lives and was an active part of monumental change in community hospital/medical care.
True to her nature of caring and giving in support of others, Lilian volunteered for years with Direct Relief and the Braille Institute for the Visually Impaired. She was also always quick to provide essential support to her elderly friends who could no longer manage their daily needs.
Later in life she met her best friend and companion Bob Weidl and his family, who loved her as part of their family, too. Together they spent more than 20 years enjoying innumerable family gatherings, dancing, playing tennis and traveling about the globe.
Lilian had many pastimes in her busy life, but especially enjoyed gardening, researching and documenting family genealogy and collecting stamps and antique dolls. She was an active member of the Santa Barbara Doll Club for many years.
She also loved getting together with her nursing compadres, both active and retired, and helped organize monthly luncheons to share a bond only those who had been in the nursing trenches could appreciate.
After living almost 60 years in Santa Barbara, Lilian moved to Florida to live with her daughter and son-in law, where she loved to gaze out over the river and marvel at the beauty and peacefulness of her new retirement home.
Lilian will be dearly missed by all who knew her, and especially by her surviving children Jennifer (Lonnie) Briggs and Gary (Sharon) Rossol; her two grandchildren Brennan (Sarah Elliott) Briggs and Michael Rossol; and great granddaughter Sadie Briggs.
Lilian will always be remembered for her compassion to help others, her strong and positive attitude towards life and cheerful beautiful smile.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Lilian Rossol can be made to Hope Hospice.
Online Donation: MoreHope.org
Mail Donation: Hope Hospice Healthcare
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