Heaven reclaimed a treasure on Wednesday, August 12, as Maria Rosa "Rose" Carvalho Parks died, after a tragic fall that led to a serious brain injury and stroke. She was 82.

Rose was born in Portugal, the youngest of the six children of Maria Goncalves Carvalho and Manuel Carvalho. They had moved there during the Depression, and Rose and her sister, Maria Helena "Lina" Carvalho Santorelli, who survives her, were born in Chaves. Her other siblings, Maria Herminia "Mimi", Mario, Tony, and Manny, who all preceded her in death, were born in the United States, but relocated to Chaves with the family. They all returned to the United States in 1939.

Rose grew up in the Portuguese-American sections of Newark and Kearny, New Jersey. Eventually, she moved to Chicago, where she rose to become chief financial officer for the company whose products included Jovon cosmetics. It was also in Chicago that she met Doyal Parks. They fell in love and married in 1982.

Rose and Doyal moved to Marion, Indiana, where Doyal owned a successful paper products factory. They were the perfect business couple: Doyal handled production and sales; Rose oversaw the finances.

They began to split their time between Indiana and Florida, and when they decided they were ready to enjoy the rewards of their long and successful careers, they moved permanently to the Harbour Ridge golf community in Palm City, Florida, where they lived at the time of her death.

Rose leaves many family and friends to mourn her. She loved them tremendously and they loved her back. She is survived by her husband, Doyal Parks; daughter Judy and her husband Gordon Knight; son James and his wife Ruth Ann Parks; daughter Tami and her husband Jack Green; five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

She also leaves many nieces and nephews in the Carvalho clan; her love and devotion kept the family close through loss and celebration. Both families join in mourning our special lady.

A burial service was scheduled for Monday, August 17, at 9:30 a.m. Forest Hills Funeral Home of Palm City is handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in the name of Maria Rose Parks to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital or the Mayo Clinic. Memorials to St. Jude's can be made online at stjude.org/donate or mailed to St. Jude's at 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-1942. For the Mayo Clinic, memorial gifts can be made online at www.mayoclinic.org/development or mailed to Department of Development, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905.