Rose Rafferty Treacy | Real estate agent, 65

Rose Rafferty Treacy, 65, of Philadelphia, a Realtor, died of cancer Thursday, May 27, at her home in the Spring Garden section.

Mrs. Treacy grew up with six younger siblings in Carrickmore, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, where she met her future husband, Michael Treacy. In 1970, seeking opportunity, they moved to Philadelphia for a year. He worked as a carpenter, and she was a waitress. They married in 1971 in Ireland and returned to this area to stay.

He became a real estate developer in Spring Garden, and she became a sales agent for Weichert Realtors in Blue Bell, where they raised a family.

Mrs. Treacy was a volunteer at St. Helena's School in Blue Bell when her daughter, Orla, was a student there.

In 2004, after their children were grown, she and her husband moved to a townhouse he had built in Spring Garden. She resisted moving, he said, but then discovered the pleasure of walking to restaurants and shopping downtown with their daughter.

Mrs. Treacy continued to sell homes in Blue Bell and sold homes in Spring Garden, including those her husband built. She loved babysitting their grandchildren, he said.

The couple visited relatives in Ireland once or twice a year. They had a passion for Gaelic football and attended the 2008 All-Ireland Final in Dublin, which the County Tyrone team won.

In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Treacy is survived by sons Michael Jr. and James, four brothers, a sister, and four grandchildren.

Friends may call from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 2, at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, 17th Street and the Parkway, and again at 9 a.m. at the cathedral, where a Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 3. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Cheltenham.