Carol Anne Rosen, of Bowie, Maryland, died peacefully due to complications from Alzheimer's disease on March 24, 2026. She was 84.

Carol Anne Rosen, maiden name Einwich, was born on February 21, 1942 to Joseph and Anna Einwich in Baltimore, Maryland. She and her three sisters, Trudy, JoAnn, and Kathy, grew up in the Belair-Edison neighborhood, with Carol attending Shrine of the Little Flower School and graduating from Catholic High School in 1960. An active member of the Girl Scouts in her youth, she attended several of the groundbreaking Girl Scouts Senior Roundups as well as the first All-States Wilderness Encampment the late 1950s and early 1960s. She served as a Troop Leader at the Vermont Roundup in 1962, and she was also a volunteer at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

A talented musician and vocalist, Carol played folk guitar in the 1960s around Baltimore and Washington, DC, including frequent appearances at a coffee house held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring, where she and her husband were members. She became skilled with countless other folk instruments, including banjo, Appalachian dulcimer, hammer dulcimer, and bodhran drum; she also joined the DC-based Philomela Women's Chamber Consort in the 1970s and performed with them throughout the region.

While working as a librarian at the Naval Ordinance Laboratory in White Oak, Maryland, she met Alvin H. Rosen, a chemist, whom she married in 1966. The couple purchased a home in the new Washington-area suburb Belair-at-Bowie, Maryland in 1967, where Carol resided for the next 58 years. Carol's son David was born in 1968 and her son Daniel in 1970.

Carol was active as a volunteer at Yorktown Elementary School during her children's education, and she also taught neighborhood classes in macrame and folk music. She became an accomplished cook and baker, known for her expertise in hosting Japanese dinner parties of homemade tempura and sushi, as well as putting on authentic British teas. Her self-made recipe book of scones, tea sandwiches, and sweets is well-known among friends and family.

As her children grew, Carol returned to school to pursue her college degree. She graduated with an Associate in Arts from Prince George's Community College in 1982, earning High Honors. She continued her studies in English literature at University of Maryland, finishing her Bachelor of Arts in 1984, Summa Cum Laude with High Honors and joining the honor society Phi Beta Kappa. After the loss of her husband Alvin in an accident in 1984, Carol continued her education at Georgetown University, earning her Master of Arts in English in 1986.

Carol went to work for IBM North America in 1988 as a Proposal Manager, becoming well-respected throughout the company for both her team leadership and her cookie-baking skill in support of those teams. She spent twenty-two years with the company, retiring in 2010.

In retirement, Carol returned to her love of volunteer work. She volunteered at the Viva House soup kitchen in West Baltimore, part of the Baltimore Catholic Worker movement, becoming known as the "cookie lady" for the variety of homemade treats she provided for the homeless and hungry. She also volunteered with the Metropolitan Washington Ear, reading newspapers and other multi-media for blind and low vision people for over twenty years.

Carol loved visiting England every summer to attend the William Wordsworth Summer Conference, joining academics from around the world in the Lake District to socialize, share, and present on Romantic poetry. She often traveled with her fiancé, Paul Betz, the former head of the English department at Georgetown University, whom she met during the course of her studies.

Carol is survived by her son David Rosen and four grandchildren, Julia, Emma, Gus, and Milton, as well as her sister Kathy Einwich.  She was predeceased by her son Daniel Rosen, who passed suddenly in 2025, and sisters Trudy Caples and JoAnn Taylor. A memorial service will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 2pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Carol's memory can be made to:

Viva Catholic Worker House
26 S Mount Street
Baltimore, MD 21223
vivacatholicworker@gmail.com