Kaliene Rosen, a beautiful and vivacious woman died of Alzheimer's disease at the Lompoc Convalescent Care Center, May 23, at the age of 72.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1939, Kaliene worked for the Irving Trust Company on Wall Street before moving to Lompoc in 1962 with her husband, Richard Rosen. They loved the cross-country trip from New York to Lompoc in their two-seater Austin Healy convertible, the wind and sun in their faces. It was a drastic change from New York, but Kaliene soon learned to love the easy life style, the beauty and sereneness of Lompoc, and the many friendships she made. She made Lompoc her home for 50 years.

A homemaker and mother until her children began school, she worked for the CBS Record company in Santa Maria. When CBS closed she worked as a secretary for the Martin Marietta Company on Vandenberg Air Force Base, and then for Raytheon in Goleta, as their main security receptionist. At Raytheon she knew the names of the hundreds of employees that passed by her desk each day and she greeted each one with a friendly remark and personal comment. Nearly every time she went out, she saw friends and ex-coworkers who greeted her with a hug. She was "color blind" in all of her relationships, never considering race, color, or gender, and offering her love and friendship to all.

Kaliene always dressed in her best clothes, with full make-up and jewelry, a carryover from her Wall Street style. She loved to dress up, even for a trip to the grocery store. She was a beautiful woman and won 1st place in an Elizabeth Taylor look-a-like contest in 1985! Her hobbies included socializing, knitting and crocheting, and collecting and wearing one of her hundreds of pieces of costume jewelry. She was an excellent cook, and enjoyed savoring the food when she often ate out. With her discriminating palate, she was able to let the chef know, politely, that they might have left out one of the twenty ingredients listed in the menu description.

Kaliene appeared in the Lompoc Civic Theater for the melodrama "Dirty Work At The Crossroads," in which she starred as Ida Rhinegold, "belle of the New Haven Music Halls," certainly a fun time in her life. She also encouraged her children to participate in Hancock Theater productions and was for a time a "theater mom".

In her retirement years she enjoyed traveling to Alaska, Mexico, Western Europe, the Mediterranean, and to visit her grandchildren in Los Angeles, Scottsdale, and Denver.

Married for 55 years, her husband, Richard Rosen, survives her. Having met in junior high school, they were early childhood sweethearts, and could often be seen holding hands. She is also survived by her three sons, Mitchell, Todd, and Glenn, their wives, Julie and Joyce, and five grandchildren, Lauren, 15, Austin, 12, Grant, 12, Parker, 15, and Taylor, 13. Her younger brother, Larry Bader resides in Texas. They will all miss the total support and unconditional love she offered in their lives.

A very special thank you to the staff of the East Wing of the Lompoc Convalescent Care Center who loved and cared for her the last months of her life. A special thank you to the Care Center for Rocio, Vicky, Lil, Krista, and Nicole, who took care of Kaliene as if she were one of their own children. In addition, another special thank you to Santa Barbara Hospice, who gave the utmost support to Kaliene and her husband Richard.

At the family's request, there will be a private family service for Kaliene. Arrangements are in the care of Starbuck-Lind Mortuary.