Rose Marie Regina (Boninfante) Daily

December 4, 1929 – October 31, 2025

Rose Marie Regina (Boninfante) Daily was born on December 4, 1929 — in the family home on Catherine Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the seventh of eight children born to Nicholas and Leanora Boninfante, a proud first-generation Italian Catholic family whose roots and traditions shaped her life. Both of Rose's parents had immigrated from Italy, bringing with them the values of faith, family, and perseverance that became the foundation of the Boninfante home.

In 1940, just eight days after Rose's 11th birthday, her father passed away. Her mother courageously took over the family paper-hanging business, while Rose's eldest sister, Florence, helped raise the younger children. The Boninfante household, like so many during the World War II years, was marked by both hardship and resilience — four of Rose's brothers went on to serve in the U.S. military, while Rose herself remained at home, where she learned strength, resourcefulness, and devotion to family.

Rose attended Harrity Elementary, Shaw Junior High, and John Bartram High School, where she made lifelong friends and discovered a love of roller skating. It was during one of those evenings at the rink that she met a handsome southern sailor named Loyd Daily — the beginning of a love story that would span decades and miles.

After graduating in 1947, Rose married her sweetheart and soon moved with him to the Daily family farm in Saragossa, Alabama. For a city girl from Philadelphia, life on a farm without running water or electricity was quite the adventure. Under the patient guidance of Grandma Daily, Rose learned to cook, keep house, and adapt to a simpler life. The young couple attended services together at Saragossa Baptist Church, where Rose's faith deepened and her family grew with the birth of their first son, Glen.

After two difficult years of poor crops, Rose and Loyd packed up their modest belongings and set out once again — this time bound for Kennewick, Washington, where Loyd's brothers had found work as carpenters at the Hanford site. Pregnant and undaunted, Rose embarked on the long journey west, beginning yet another chapter in a life defined by courage, love, and quiet perseverance.

Soon after settling in Kennewick, Loyd joined the UA Local 598 Plumbers & Steamfitters in Pasco and began traveling for work. Rose took care of their home and growing family. In January 1950, their daughter Mary Louise was born. Loyd, working in Idaho at the time, braved a snowstorm to make it home for the birth. In 1951, the Dailys bought a house on Garfield Street, where they welcomed their third child, Robert James ("Bobby Jim"). During slow periods in construction, Rose and the children often joined Loyd on the road, living in a small travel trailer they towed behind the family car. Rose and Loyd welcomed their youngest child, Wayne, while visiting Alabama.

By the mid-1950s, the Daily family returned to their home on Garfield Street in Kennewick. Family was at the center of Rose's life; she and Loyd made yearly trips back to Alabama and Pennsylvania so their children would know their roots and extended family. On one such trip, Rose and Loyd brought home her younger sister's two daughters to live with them in Washington for nearly two years. During this time, Rose and her children were active members of Kennewick Southern Baptist Church.

While her children were in school, Rose worked at a local flower shop, where she loved helping arrange flowers. When her sons attended formal dances, she delighted in crafting their corsages and boutonnieres herself. Later, she worked as a salesclerk at two Kennewick pharmacies, retiring when the second pharmacist closed his shop.

In the early 1960s, Rose and Loyd purchased a home and 35 acres on Bowles Road in Finley, Washington. After early attempts at dairy farming, they turned to raising Brangus cattle — becoming the proud owners of the first registered Brangus calf in the state of Washington. Rose soon took over the cattle operation and traveled throughout Texas and the Midwest, proudly showing her Brangus cattle and making lifelong friends along the way.

After Loyd retired from the union, the couple embraced their shared love of exploration and began traveling the world together. They visited China, where Rose stood in awe before the Terracotta Warriors; journeyed through the Holy Land, where she explored the ancient city of Petra; and ventured across the South Pacific, visiting the islands of Tonga. Later, she also returned to their ancestral homeland of Italy, where Rose walked the same cobblestone streets of Rome and Venice — an experience that brought her life's journey full circle. Their travels also took them to Egypt, the Bahamas, and Alaska, where they fished and crabbed aboard their beloved boat, the Desert Rose.

Rose and Loyd shared 65 years of marriage before Loyd's passing in 2012. Afterward, Rose devoted herself to her great-grandchildren, volunteering at Eastgate Elementary School's "Team Read" program and sharing her love of learning and kindness with a new generation. In 2013, she began attending St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Kennewick, where she joyfully helped with mailings and the annual garage sale. In 2019, Rose sold her home and moved into a cozy cottage on her son Bobby Jim's property, surrounded by family and love.

Rose loved to cook and bake, and among her family, her great-grandchildren knew her best for her famous snickerdoodle cookies. She will be remembered for her love of church, her devotion to family, her generous heart, and her boundless curiosity about the world.

Rose is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Loyd Daily; her parents, Nicholas and Eleanora Boninfante; two sisters; five brothers; one son-in-law; and two grandchildren. She is survived by her four children — Glen (Suzette), Mary Louise Anderson (Lyle), Bobby Jim (Tina), and Wayne (Cindy) — along with 12 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, 5 great-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Rose's life was a testament to faith, family, and fortitude — a life beautifully lived, joyfully shared, and lovingly remembered.