Rosemary Edith Kauffman was born May 23, 1910.

One of Rosemary’s chores was to fetch water from Grand Lake in the wintertime from a hole her father had carved in the ice and she carried the water buckets up the hill to the hotel.  After her father died the hotel was a seasonal operation and the three girls continued to clean rooms and help their mother until the hotel was sold in 1946.  The family then moved to Denver where Rosemary graduated from West High School in Denver.  She then worked as a bookkeeper at a Denver meat-packing plant and in accounting and bookkeeping for Safeway grocery stores in Denver.

Rosemary married US Merchant Marine David Emerson Wilkin May 28, 1937.  They owned a grocery store in North Denver.  Rosemary and Dave Wilkin built a home in Wheat Ridge, and in the mid 70s they bought a second home in Grand Lake where they stayed almost every weekend. Rosemary served as a docent at the Kauffman House to share her memories.  In 1979 Rosemary’s husband passed away.  Then at the age of 88 she met her companion Carl Collins of Grand Lake and the two remained close until his death in 1991.  In 2000 Rosemary suffered a stroke and her health declined.  She died August 26, 2005 at her home in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

Rosemary had a doll collection which she donated to the Historical Society.  Most of the dolls in the house were from her collection.