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Join Us Congratulating Harry Rosemond
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Harry Rosemond has touched countless lives as an educator, mentor, and friend for six decades. As we prepare to have a dedication for the Wilturner Rosemond Center for Learning and Innovation on September 20, 2024, we invite you to be part of this celebration.
We encourage you to share a favorite memory, a funny anecdote, or a life lesson you learned from Harry. Whether from your time as a student at Green River College, Ventura College, a colleague in education, or a family friend, your story will help paint a vivid picture of Harry’s incredible impact.
Join us in honoring Harry’s inspiring legacy by sharing your congratulations or unique perspective below.
Thank you for being a positive difference maker in the lives of so many people! The good Lord placed you on planet Earth to help people live a better life mission accomplished. May God continue to bless you with his richest gifts, upward and onward!
Mr Rosemond was my 5th grade reading teacher at Ramona School in Oxnard, CA. I later had the opportunity to take a summer class with him at Ventura College. I am now 72 years old and retired. However, all of my elementary classmates still talk about the positive image he made in all our lives. Congratulations! Mr Rosemond.
Hello Harry, congratulations to you on a lifetime of serving students and being a mentor to me and countless other teaching professionals. The naming of a building is a well deserved recognition! Stay well my friend.
Congratulations Harry! My son and family live in Tumwater so maybe I’ll say hi sometime! Susan Webster
Congrats! Barbara Hoffman, retired VC faculty
Hi Harry,
No one came close to your teaching. It was apparent you loved teaching students how to learn and of course you cared for those students.
You have been very missed. Congratulations. You were also much loved.
Mr. Rosemond was my 5th grade teacher at Romona elementary school. He had a ruler for discipline and named it the booty green. Rarely did any of the girls get the boots green but most of the boys did, particularly Charles Wilson who was the class clown. I have fond memories of Mr. Rosemond, he was an excellent and fun teacher and one of the teachers who has influenced my desire for learning. Years passed and who do I see in staff procession at my son’s graduation from Ventura College, Mr. Rosemond. Congratulations, love and much Respect. Your 5th grade student Ruby Tacker.
Thank you for honoring this great Man. There is an old spiritual song that is befitting of Harry Rosemond, “May the work I’ve done speak for me”.
Hello Harry, as I remember you as a kid across the street to growing up through the years you were always a class act, I am so honored to know you as a kid and hear about your accomplishments and now this.
Congratulations and thank you for all your support and love for everyone.
Congratulations 🥳 Thank you for being a kind, giving and encouraging human!
Although I didn’t have the pleasure of being taught by Mr Rosemond. His teachings were passed down to his daughter Julie, whom has made a major impact in my life. The Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree 😊 Thank you for all the lives you’ve touched Mr Rosemond, directly or indirectly!
Wow!! I am impressed that a building will be named for my friend, Julie’s, dad. That’s quite an accomplishment. Green River is an outstanding community college on a beautiful campus, and very close to where I live. Big congrats!
Congratulations Mr. Rosemont on a beautiful career. You’ve touched many lives by your dedication to helping others learn and be better human beings, that’s not an easy task by any means. I was not a student of yours, but have always held a higher respect for you, knowing that you were a teacher. Congratulations on having your name proudly added to the learning center. 🥰
Mr Harry, you may not remember me. Your daughter, Julie and I went through school together. The integrity you and Ms Karen instilled in her was always something I admired and have strived to install in my 5 children. Congratulations on all your life accomplishments.
Blessings~ Denni (Stuart)Smith
I never had you as a teacher, Mr. Rosemond, but I remember you at our track meets. I ran with Julie. You were always a present father. A reliable, upstanding man. Julie is the best of you, sir.
Congratulations on a fantastic career in a noble profession. Quite a legacy.
This man gave me the confidence to stay in sports and converse with people when I was the one speaking. I was ready to quit school and sports, and Mr. Rosemond while at Ventura College convinced me to stay and continue my sports journey.
I now work with NFL, NBA, MLB, AND entertainment people. Without his guidance and support I would not be where I am now. This man was a staple of Ventura College, ask any football or basketball player that was ever in his classes!!!
Sir Rosemond—
I am honored to have been able to work with you and be your friend for 30 years! You gave me chocolate at my first division meeting as a new faculty member (then the baby of the division) all those years ago —and of course, we became friends immediately. We shared many laughs over the years and true teaching triumphs and love for our students.
I have missed you so much since you retired, but at the same time, I am so happy for you as you enjoy your retirement adventures with your beautiful family. Can’t wait to see you on Friday September 20th and give you a big hug…and some chocolate!
Congratulations Harry! I was your daughter’s Science department chairman down in LAUSD… And she was A joy to work with… Connected me with Orca research Up in Washington state for which I will be eternally grateful… Thank you for doing such a wonderful job raising her…😎
Harry…
I just talked with Ralph James who, after retirement, has ratchet up the great work he does for people who need assistance here in Ventura County. He told me about your website.
It is nice to hear you are still going strong. Thanks for helping kick off the reading program and learning skills focus to help students succeed at Ventura College. Unfortunately I don’t think the Community College System in California provides as good a ladder for the development of student skills and growth for success as it provided in the past.
You have two years on me and it is most impressive to learn that you are just moving into retirement. And, 60 years working in education speaks to a dedication and legacy of influence on student lives that is beyond impressive. Congratulations!
Green River College has been fortunate for your moving north. Your long term contribution there is obviously recognized and appreciated in the act of naming the Innovation and Learning Center for you. Not many of us achieve your level of recognition and appreciation on a facility designed to provide opportunity for so many people, and that memorialized your life’s legacy. Congratulations again.
Stay in good health, enjoy your well-earned retirement, and don’t let a horse throw you … We don’t bounce as well as we used to.
Good memories …
Gary Johnson
Harry is a colleague of mine at Green River College in Auburn, Washington. When I started out at the college and every year for 22 years, Harry always made me feel supported and confident in teaching. He is an excellent colleague and person and many students have been inspired by his example. Thank you, Harry! I will tell good stories about you when I get to work in the new building named for you! Well deserved!
He was my first college professor when I was in high school for running start in 2014. Wonderful teacher and funny!
Harry will always be an inspiration and a true example of master teaching. I will forever be grateful for his friendship, teaching and encouragement.
I’ll never forget meeting Harry. We moved into his neighborhood 7 yrs ago. I was walking my dogs and walking by his house, looked up and his wife, Laurie, was planting some beautiful red and white flowers in their planter. Harry was sitting conversing with her. I made the comment that it was very colorful … and Harry quipped, “Are you talking about me?!” I said I was talking about the flowers … but now that you mention it, you are as well!!
We are so fortunate to have both Harry and his wife for neighbors and dear friends.
Congratulations Mr. Rosemond. I’ve known you since 1977. My favorite memories are you riding your beautiful horse in the Ojai, California 4th of July parade. Your blue 💙 outfit and silver equipment was so delightful. Your contribution to education has been amazing you deserve this honor.
Harry, where shall I begin? I came to California in July 1964 and not too long after my leaving the segregated South (Alabama) and moving to Oxnard, I was fortunate to meet and get to know you. I was one of many young teens who spent an inordinate amount of time at Durley Park under your mentorship and guidance. You were a bigger than life role model who helped me and others navigate the complexities of growing up in the turbulent times of the sixties. To me and others, you became our role model and over time you and I became good friends. You were bright, educated, inspiring, articulate, cool, fun to be around and always made yourself available to hear our concerns. We always felt better after talking and being in your presence.
Years later when I was going to get married, you and your then wife Karen graciously agreed to be best man and bridesmaid for my wedding. This only added to the bond of friendship that has lasted for over 60 years and counting.
My fondest memories are when we worked as colleagues together at Ventura College. Those were some of the best years of my life, surrounded by so many wonderful students, talented and amazing staff, faculty and administrators. You passionately loved teaching and dedicated yourself to help students be better human beings, learn, have confidence, overcome obstacles, not give up and become their best self. You helped foster in them the belief that the world was their oyster and by hard work, preparation and the right tools, they could extract the pearls to succeed in college and in life.
As a colleague, you always made yourself available to me and other faculty. Many times you were the voice of reason and calm to me and others when issues arose in society and spread to the campus community. Thank you for your professionalism, caring, calm steady demeanor, support and spirit that allowed you to lead by example.
You have reached milestones in your life and career and I regret that I will not be able to be with you on September 20 to witness a building named after you and being honored for your six decades of service as an educator, mentor, inspiration, and friend to countless students, colleagues and others. Your honoring and acknowledgment speaks boldly of the impact you’ve had on so many lives. I love you my brother and pray for your continued blessings and health.
Congratulations, Harry – I miss seeing you around campus, but the example that you set for all of us is still influential. I don’t anticipate that influence waning anytime soon. I’m glad that your name on this new Center will be an enduring reminder of how the College defines professionalism, even – perhaps especially – for those in the future who won’t have the good fortune to meet you.
Harry Rosemond was a well-established and beloved faculty member at Green River College when I began working there in 2017. I wasn’t a faculty member but rather staff. He didn’t know it, but I watched him from afar. He inspired me to push forward just as he inspired his many students. Harry was one of the few African American faculty members as I was one of the few African American Directors at the college. He was a trailblazer then and continues to be a trailblazer now with the naming of the Wilturner Rosemond Center for Learning & Innovation. I know that you will continue to impact and inspire others the way that you have inspired and impacted me even though you had no idea who I was at the time. Continued blessings on your life, as you are the real deal!
Harry was always a shining light at Green River College. He went out of his way to say hello and always ask about my family. It was truly an honor to get to work with him for all of those years at the college. He touched so many lives and I am grateful that I know him.
Congratulations, Harry, on adding to your legacy with this building. Such a well deserved honor for both you and Carsh. You will be forever remembered as one of Green River’s most amazing instructors and one of my favorite colleagues. I am forever grateful and honored to have known you and worked with you for so many years. All my very best to you and your family.
Christie Gilliland
Harry, what a gift you have been in my personal and professional life: reminding me the importance of the fight; reminding me that love and family must always center us; reminding me to take care of myself even while I was fighting for others; and showing me how to grow into a mature professional who could not only fight the big fight, but also quietly notice and offer a simple word of acknowledgment when it is most needed, as you so often did for me. And I KNOW that you have done this for countless others as well, not to mention all of the students who stayed in college, found their voice, built belief in themselves and their dreams because they had the good luck to walk into your office or your classroom. You will never know the fully enormity of the beauty and good you have created in this world. If I could name the sky above the college after you, I would, but I guess this is at least a start. Congratulations and never doubt that it is deserved.
With love and awe,
Jaeney
Harry,
You have been a significant influence on the students, faculty and campus over your distinguished career. It was a pleasure to work with you as a colleague and I am delighted that you and Carsh are being distinguished in the naming of the learning center. It is a well-deserved honor. Best wishes in retirement.
Mr. Rosemond,
Congrats on this amazing achievement. The influence for positive change and progress that you have had in people’s lives is remarkable. You have a wonderful family that I have been blessed to know for many decades. Thank you for your impact.
All the best,
Diane Smotrys
You always said “Hello Sister” when we met making me feel like I had family at GRC right away. Your interest in everyone and kindness was always appreciated. You are missed where I used to bump elbows with you! I cannot think of a better person to have the learning center carry your name. I hope this center embodies your energy and spirit for community, things we all have in common with each other, and nurturing students and GRC as you always demonstrated.
Hello Harry, congratulations on a lifetime dedicated to student, staff, faculty, and institutional success. This recognition and the upcoming ribbon cutting are well-deserved. Eric Greer, Vice President of Student Affairs
Congratulations on this wonderful honor. It is a great way to remember a smiling face I saw many early mornings on the Green River Campus. The entire Grounds team would like to thank you for all you have done for Green River College. We hope you are enjoying a well-deserved retirement.
Harry is such a wonderful human being! I would talk with him every time he came through the administration building at Green River College when I was on the switchboard.
We had some very enjoyable discussions, and I loved to hear about his horseback riding adventures.
Continue to enjoy your retirement and congratulations on being such an awesome teacher that you get your name on a building!!!
Harry, it was an honor and pleasure to have met, gotten to know and collaborate with you during your tenure at GRC. Thank you for allowing me to share space in your classroom to dialogue with our students in GRC’s TS and Reading courses. I appreciate learning from you and your generous compassionate teaching style. Encouraging self-awareness while offering our students empowering learning tools to guide and enrich their academic and personal journeys is a privilege. The Wilturner Rosemond Center for Learning & Innovation will be a beacon of that.
Respectfully & With Gratitude,
Lady Ivory Boyd
Hi. Did you receive information I sent you? Please let me know.
Harry,
I miss you coming to “bug” me in the library – you always brought joviality to my day! Hope retirement is treating you well and you are enjoying new adventures.
Harry,
What an honor to have taught alongside you at Green River College! You were a confidante, friend, fellow horse lover, and truly valued colleague. The care you took with all of those around you – students and colleagues alike – was an example to me. In the rush of everything, you took time to listen and make space for those around you. Thank you for always reminding me of how important this is! I also learned much from the patience you illustrated with others and with larger systems. Change can and does happen, but often much slower than needed. You showed me how to not give up in the midst of the long journey to change. We miss your presence on campus but will always be reminded of your life and legacy through the naming of the Professional Learning Center after you. Thank you for the giving us the gift of you for so many years!
Julie
Hi Harry! I miss seeing you come into the bookstore for some chocolate. Hope you are still getting your Hershey fix. You are the greatest!
Brother Harry! Congratulations on leaving your mark at Green River College: in educating and inspiring so many students, cultivating powerful and meaningful friendships with colleagues across the campus, and ensuring your work and impact will be remembered, respected, and celebrated for generations to come with your name on one of the college’s buildings.
I greatly appreciate you and the friendship you and I have had ever since I began teaching in our department in Fall 2008. For a number of years, you and I were always the first two faculty members who showed up to our offices in the early hours of the morning to beat the traffic, and I’ll always remember fondly the talks we used to have.
Enjoy this next phase you have entered with friends and family always surrounding you, Harry. You are most deserving of it.
Abrazos,
Michael
Harry, I miss working with you so much! You were a wonderful model for me on how to center students’ needs and strengths in education and an inspiration for always continuing to grow as an educator. I hope you are thoroughly enjoying the retirement you so deserve.
Harry, It has been such an honor and pleasure working with and near you over the years I’ve been at GRC. I will miss bumping into you in the office hallways, and how even if the topic of the days chat was painful, I cannot recall leaving a conversation without both of us laughing. I hope that joy and laughter continue to surround you and your loved ones. Don’t be a stranger, Rebeka
I worked with Harry at Green River College. He was a true inspiration at GRC and lit up every room he walked into. We would meet at the office chocolate candy bowl and usually have a good laugh. I miss seeing him around campus. His impact on those he met (even casually) is immeasurable.
Harry is universally loved and admired by all.
Harry is one of the first people at Green River College who got me to have a full belly laugh. I was a bit rigid in my professionalism when I started as new faculty in 2009, but Harry has a wonderfully disarming warmth that I really felt welcomed to be myself as he was being so genuinely himself. Over the years I have heard from so many students how his approach took things from intimadating to approachable and I believe that is one of his many gifts; to inspire confidence by being so down to earth and real in his approach. I am so excited to have this new center named in his honor, what a true inspiration!
Uncle Harry-
I’m so happy, I have the honor of knowing you in this life time and having you as my uncle. How blessed am I.
Congratulations on this huge honorary achievement! What a well-deserved acknowledgment because of the gifts and service you have shared with the community. Bravo!!!!!
Love,
Glenn
So proud of you uncle Harry! I can remember you being a college professor since I was a little girl😇wish Carter and I could be there
Love you, Johnnie and Carter Mayers
Palmdale, CA ❤️💜
Harry, my heart is filled with joy to have your legacy recognized in brick and mortar! You deserve every acclaim for your years of service to and love for our students! Lots of love, Jennifer Dysart
GRC
What a remarkable life and career you have had, Harry. You always exuded a spirit of generosity and warmth, which not only empowered and reassured students but also provided peace and comfort to your colleagues with your unshakeable strength and belief in yourself and others. Thank you for the support you offered me during various battles for equity and justice on campus over the years. I am delighted that the new teaching and learning center is named after you and Carsh. Both of you are indelibly part of the college’s history and culture, and your legacies will continue to guide us into a richer future. Enjoy all that retirement has to offer with the love of family and hopefully some adventures, too!
Uncle Harry, my great Uncle I’m so excited that you are being acknowledged for your many accomplishments as an educator. I know grandmama would be so proud that you are being honored this way. Congratulations – your great Niece Samara Barba ❤️
Congratulations uncle, Harry Rosemond!! It is an honor to be able to express our gratitude and love and respect for all you have done for the family and the lives that you have touched in your community. Your mom Florence Rosemond and father Rufus Rosemond, your sister Ruby,sister Drucella, and brother Nelson would have been very proud and happy for your great accomplishment and on your amazing journey. And all your nieces and nephews, we are all happy for you. To have your name in honor to be put up on the building of Green River College!! They are all with you there in spirit!! You have always been a positive influence with every one in the family in a very positive way. You’re kind, you’re smart and very witty, so funny, so very funny!😂 My husband, Philip Mayers, and I Congratulations you on all of your life, accomplishments, your blessings, and everyone you have touched and loved. We wish you the best and may God bless you. Wishing you a great day on Friday, September 20, 2024
Santa Clarita, California 🌹🌹
Love,
Karen your niece
P. S. The next time you’re in LA, the gumbo will be ready and the tea cakes Lol 😂 🤣👍🏽🌹
Massive congratulations Uncle Harry! What a remarkable accomplishment to have your name immortalized and your work be honored and appreciated in this way. You are an inspiration.
Congratulations to uncle Harold. And enjoy your retirement!!
Good to hear from you. Do keep in touch.
Thank You Uncle Harry for always being an inspiration & mentor. You were my first creative writing professor at Ventura College in 1997. I remember trying to pay attention in class, because you knew My Mom directly. I’m very blessed to have you in my life. Congratulations on the dedication it is well deserved.
I entered Mr. Rosemond’s reading class at Green River in 1998, after I rushed through my placement tests, lazily, as an 18 year-old with no idea what I wanted to do. So there I was reading out loud just like the others. After a few weeks, while everyone was completing a test still, I was just sitting, already done. I was the only one done. Mr. Rosemond looked up from what he was doing at his desk and motioned me to come sit in the chair he had right next to his desk. He looked at me and whispered “Ms. Bone why are you here?” (In his direct stern voice) I just kind of sat there quiet, unsure what he meant. He said “I have heard you read out loud and you are always done first. You’re not fooling me, how did you end up in my class?” I then confessed my Mom was actually a teacher, worse… a reading specialist! (He looked sideways at me 😅) I told him I didn’t care the day I did my placement test and rushed through it. So I ended up in the class. He whispered (pointing his finger on the desk) “You are very smart, give yourself some credit.” He then said “Okay you can go back to your seat.” It might have been the first time a teacher ever told me I was smart. I was also always early to his class. On the days he was already there, we chatted, and found we had, in common, adoption stories, in our family. He shared about his trip to China to adopt his daughter. Showed me photos. I shared about my brother and sister being Vietnamese and Korean. Besides my nursing instructors and my Anatomy teacher, Mr. Harry Rosemond is a teacher I will never forget. I graduated from GR with a 3.98 GPA Honors and Deans list. 22 years later I met, completely on accident, his daughter, Julie, at a writing event!! I find life does that for a reason, to bring it back around. To remind you of things you forgot, like, “You’re not fooling me.” Thank you Sir, for your words of encouragement, all those years ago. You deserve all the honors. You were right. I’m really smart.
Dear Harry
I always marveled at the positive energy you brought to campus year after year! I have seen you walk past the science building on your way to your office so many times – always bringing your best self to campus, always there to serve our students!
I wish you many years of good health and happiness.
You have left a rich legacy at Green River College and we will strive to live up to it!
Harry, it was an honor and pleasure to work with you here at Green River College. Thank you for teaching students the most valuable skill of all – the ability to learn. Your dedication and passion for both teaching and learning have made you a truly outstanding and inspiring educator.
Thank you!
Wendy Stewart (International Programs)
A truly amazing teacher is hard to find, difficult to part with, and impossible to forget! That’s you Harry! You were truly blessed with the gift of teaching & have touched many lives in the most positive way! Congratulations on this well deserved honor at Green River Community College! We are blessed you are family! May God continue to bless you!
Mr. Rosemond was my first instructor at Green River in September of 1995. I remember walking into his classroom in SMT and he asked me, “Do you like my haircut?” During this time, I was also working in the Dean’s office and got know Harry on a more personal basis.
Harry, I miss talking to in the halls of RLC and seeing pictures of your beautiful family. Congratulations and enjoy your retirement.
It was always a joy and an honor to be your colleague over many years.
I LOVE YOU GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations I’m so happy for you
Charles Navarro, Catherdral HS class of 1964 and cousin Sam Navarro, class of 1959
Congratulation on a life well lived! Husband, father, counselor, teacher, coach, cowboy and most of all friend to many! A renaissance man, best describes Harry! May your future be filled with new and exciting endeavors! We were blessed to have you as colleague and friend!
I’m so glad to hear from you. Phil you are a part of my past which I’ll never forget …the football practices, the games, and of course horror movies. Do keep in touch. Harry
Harry old friend and colleague, went to a Ventura College football game last Saturday to honor the 84 Championship team! Who should be there, but a player by the name Dale Long! He was so complimentary and thankful for your stewardship/ coaching! He said he learned so much about being a player, but more important being a man! Thought I would share that with you! You are thought of with great respect in Ventura!