Rosie Bell Veal

For those who met, loved, and cared for Rosie Bell Veal, they called her “Mama”.

Mama was born in the delta in Mississippi on December 16, 1919. Her parents were Minnie and Charles Veal, who she called “Papa”. She had two brothers, Henry and Charles; and six sisters, Estelle, Callie, Helen, Lilly, Hattie, and Annie. Mama grew up on a farm. She milked cows, rode on horses, tended chickens, and picked cotton. In her early years, life was very hard. The family did not have much money or resources. Mama wanted to go to school but was not able to, much because her mother needed her and Lilly to work. Mama came to St. Louis on a bus with some of her family when she was a teenager. She worked at several different jobs and she gave her pay to her mother and had to be in the house by 9 PM. She decided that she would leave and be on her own. She worked at Slay’s Restaurant and the Post Office; she also did domestic work in houses cooking and cleaning.

One day she was walking down the street and my father spotted her and started talking to her. He thought she was beautiful, and she thought he was handsome. Her mother did not approve of their relationship, but they wanted to be together and they started a family. They had eleven children – Rosie, “Sister” (Marie), Joseph, Johnny, Lonnie, Lionel, Marilyn, Steven, Antonio, Angelo, and Kennedy.

Family was very important to Mama. Mama loved her family. When she worried about one of her children, she would say “Call them and give them this advice”. She thought that they would listen to us before they would listen to her. When she was giving advice, Mama had a saying, “Take a fool’s advice”.

Mama wanted all of her children to get along together. She would say to us, “Call them, they didn’t mean any harm”. If we didn’t, she would say, “Don’t be a coward”. Mama wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything – she would say, “I’m not afraid of the Devil in Hell”.

Mama believed in education because she and Lilly were not allowed to go to school. She wanted much more for her children. She wanted a Catholic education for her children. She walked from one Catholic school to another until she found one that would accept her children. She met Father Pepperly at Holy Guardian Angels and he allowed the children to attend the school. Mama would always say, “I put you in Catholic school”, and that her children got a good education. Her children went on to achieve success in their endeavors in education and business, getting degrees in medicine, law, accounting, and business administration, with careers as a doctor, accountant, business owners and managers, dietician, painter, HVAC, military, and foreign service.

Mama did everything she could to help her family survive. She would send us to the parish rectory to get food vouchers. She would send us to Mary’s Restaurant at the end of the day to get leftover food and soup.  She would also sell clothes and rent our house to make money.  Mama would go to the rummage sale to buy clothes and would resell them.  She described some people as “throwing away their children in ash pits”, but she took care of her family. She would wake her youngest daughter up in the middle of the night and put hot towels on her arm. She would take us to evangelical tents and have the ministers pray over my arm. When Kennedy was a baby and was sick, she would rub him up and down with Vicks and put a hot compress on his chest, because she thought that he could die from pneumonia if he went to a hospital.  Also, she her let brother, Charlie, and her sister, Annie and Annie's 3 boys stay with the family when they needed help.

At Christmas when we were all little, the toys and gifts that we received were given to us at the Holy Guardian Angels School. On one Christmas, Santa Claus and two helpers came to our house at 1929 Chouteau. Mama let them in the house, and they hid presents throughout the house. When we all woke up, we got the gifts. I later found out that Santa was Father Pepperly.

Mama’s life was not easy. She never complained about things. She worked at many different jobs, but her most important job was being a mother. She loved that job and did it very well.

Mama told me that she loved God, and that God was her boss. I told Mama that God loved her too, and that “He gave you a long life and many children because he loved you. God made everything for you – the food that you eat, the medicine that you take, the doctors and nurses and people that take care of you”. Mama gave thanks to God for what He did for her.

Mama loved music. She like country music from Charley Pride to Johnny Cash. In her later years, she liked listening to Charley Pride in particular. She like to sing along to some of his music. Up until recently, she liked to dance.

Mama loved her pets – the dogs, Miss Bell (who preceded her on September 29, 2018), Noona Rosie, Cleo (a.k.a. “Princess” or “Little Big Mouth”), Mia (a.k.a. “Lulu”), and Otto.

My brothers and sisters are more like Mama than we know. Mama never carried any grudge.

I keep seeing an image of a big tree with the leaves blowing off from the branches. The tree is missing the roots that help hold it in place. The roots were Mama and Daddy; now the last root, Mama, is gone. Mama was helping to hold this family together. If we be still and stay together, the tree will be upright and won’t fall. But if we move, the tree will fall sooner because the tree no longer has the roots to hold it up. As Mama would say, “Take a fool’s advice”. Let’s all get along, for the sake of ourselves; Mama and Daddy are no longer here to help us.

May God give Mama the mercy that she often asked for. Also, I often ask God for help to get through each day. Now I ask God for help to keep going on. Mama’s spirit has left her body, but her spirit is still in each of us. Let’s love it and protect it.

Mama didn’t like to say “goodbye”. She insisted; I’m not going to say that”. She would sometimes say, “See you later alligator; after-while crocodile”.

Mama had a lot of sayings:

• "Don't mind the weather if the mind don't blow."


• "I feel fine. Just broke off a vine."


• "Let's rise and shine."


• "Look me up and look me down. Did you find whatch'r looking for?"


• "Chicken butt, go around the corner and lick it up."


• "One monkey don't stop no show."


• "Take a fool's advice."


• "See you later alligator; after awhile crocodile."


• "I'm a little piece of leather, but well-put together."


• "It ain't the way you do it, it's how you do it."


• "I'm giving you my laws!"


• "I want a diamond ring, the best of everything!"

Po' Little Johnny:

Po' Little Johnny going to marry

Pick out the one with the money

Pick out the one with the cold black hair

Po' little Johnny going to marry!

Paid 15 cents

To see little Johnny jump that fence

He jumped so high

He touched the sky

Didn't come back till the 4th of July




O Miss Molly:

O Miss Molly Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black

With silver buttons, buttons, bittons

All down her back, back, back




We would like to thank all of Mama’s friends and caregivers who have helped take care of Mama. We would like to especially thank Naomi and Leonard, who are like family.