Rose Lee Kreiser

Rose Lee Johnson Kreiser, 88, of Knoxville, TN, passed away at home Monday morning, April 9, 2018. Rose left Knoxville to work for the U.S. Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., where she met her husband of 52 years – Harold R. “Kris” Kreiser of Jonestown – at a Lutheran Church group meeting. As a first-time guest, Rose filled out an attendance card with her name, phone number and address, which was collected together with others. She expected to be contacted about future services and events and wasn’t surprised when Harold Kreiser called. Months later she learned he had collected her card, but – quite uncharacteristically and a bit roguish – he kept it. They married in 1961 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Knoxville but returned to Washington where Kris was a supervisory landscape architect with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and Rose an executive secretary in the Pentagon. She retired with 30 years of government service in 1986, and the couple moved to Knoxville. Kris died in 2013. She was preceded in death as well by her parents I.M. Johnson and Stella Ruth Ferguson Johnson. Through research completed by her niece Janis Kreiser Lamar of Potomac, MD, Rose recently learned her mother’s Tennessee roots are deep and historic with Pennsylvania origins. As a direct descendant of several persons who lived in Tennessee before 1796, Rose was officially recognized as a member of the First Families of Tennessee. Her ancestor Frederick Emert, born in Berks County, PA, served under the command of General George Washington; after the Revolutionary War he migrated to Tennessee. She was also a life member of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the General Grand Chapter Order of the Eastern Star. Rose delighted in clothes, sparkles, shoes, homemade pie and, especially, cats – affections shared by Janis, who survives her along with beloved kitty-kats Rusty and Tee-Kee. Other survivors include Kris’ brother Clifford L. Kreiser of Harrisburg, PA, and many nieces and nephews in the local area. Friends may visit at their convenience Thursday, April 12, 2018, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Berry Funeral Home, 3704 Chapman Highway, Knoxville, TN 37920. A graveside service will be held Sunday, April 15, 2018, at 11 a.m. at Sattazahn Lutheran Church Cemetery, Jonestown, Kris’ childhood church.

Rose Lee Kreiser

May 5, 1929 - April 9, 2018