Farewell to Our Sound of Music Friend
Illustration
Stories
The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (v. 6)
We just received word about the passing of our friend, Rosmarie Trapp. We had lost touch with her in recent years, so I was shocked when I stumbled onto her obituary in The New York Times from May 18, 2022.
Neil Genzlinger wrote: “Rosmarie Trapp, a member of the singing family made famous by the stage musical and film “The Sound of Music” and the last surviving daughter of Baron Georg Johannes von Trapp, the family patriarch, died on May 13 at a nursing home in Morrisville, Vt. She was 93. The Trapp Family Lodge, the family business in Stowe, Vt., announced her death on Tuesday. Ms. Trapp (who dropped the “von” from her name years ago) was the daughter of Georg and Maria Augusta (Kutschera) von Trapp, the would-be nun who became a governess with the family and ultimately married the baron.”
On the night she spoke and sang at our church in Wauwatosa, WI, which seats about 500; it was packed with more than 700 people. I had just started the vision books, so I boldly asked her if she had a story to share. She ended up giving me a story for each of the three books in the series.
In the summer of 2004, I had the joy of traveling with Rosmarie on a five-day, whirlwind storytelling tour of southern Wisconsin, including a stop at my home church. We traveled 800 miles, were on three radio programs, and spoke live to hundreds people in five Wisconsin communities including Kenosha, Wauwatosa, Plymouth, Sheboygan, and Ithaca, where I went to high school.
Rosmarie was the firstborn child of the baron and Maria, of the famed von Trapp Family Singers of Sound of Music fame. She had seven older half-siblings and two younger siblings. The von Trapps escaped from Austria when the Nazis came in 1938. Rosmarie said her parents had a vision, like Abraham, to go to a new land that God would show them; a decision, she said, that saved their lives. She was 9 years old when they arrived in “Amerika” and settled on a farm in Stowe, Vermont, where the von Trapp Family Lodge is still located today. They slept in a haymow in a barn the first summer while their home was being built.
The von Trapp Family Singers offered concerts all over the world in the 1940s and 50s. “Tiny one-horse towns and big cities, we went everywhere – every state in the United States, except Alaska, Canada, Mexico, South America and New Zealand,” Rosmarie said.
When we passed Kohler, WI on our way from a book signing in Plymouth to a church event in Sheboygan, she exclaimed, “Oh, we played here in the 1940s.” She remembered touring the factory where the popular Kohler tubs, sinks and other bathroom accessories were made.
I opened each program with vision stories from the books, and after I had warmed up the crowd Rosmarie would come out and tell the stories behind the story of The Sound of Music; what really happened and what was just “Hollywood.” She said it was true the baron had a whistle, but he was not a soldier and did not teach the children to march. He had a whistle because he had been a submarine captain – it was the only way to attract the sailors’ attention over the noisy engines.
Rosmarie told about appearing briefly with her mother as an extra in one scene of the movie, as Julie Andrews sang “I Have Confidence”. It was shot in Salzburg, their former home. After 10 takes, she was glad that was the beginning and the end of her movie career.
Wherever we went, Rosmarie witnessed to her faith, played guitar, and led people in singing favorite songs from The Sound of Music: “Do-Re-Mi,” “My Favorite Things,” “Edelweiss,” “Climb Every Mountain” and “The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music.” The tunes are still ringing in my head. Rosmarie always invited children to come up and sing with her. At one event there was a developmentally disabled girl who was singing loudly and off-key. Rosmarie invited her up on stage, and had her sit by her side and sing with her during the rest of the performance.
People were always touched by Rosmarie’s personal testimony. One night she told of assurance that came to her on a seven-day personal retreat: "...the Lord visited me in a bright, golden light in my room... the golden glow brought peace to my soul, and I found that I could stand upon the rock of my salvation. At first I was pretty wobbly, and it took years to be firm. It's been twenty years since that blessing, and I'm still learning not to wobble."
I heard new stories each time Rosmarie spoke. On the last night, she told about a sister who was always late. They would tease her, telling her she would be late for her own funeral. When she died, her body was sent by mistake to Waterbury, Connecticut, instead of Waterbury, Vermont. They started the funeral without her, and when the casket arrived about halfway through the service, everyone had a good laugh.
“It was the best funeral we ever had,” Rosmarie said.
Rosmarie did a program with me for another overflow crowd at Willow Valley United Methodist Church [my home church] in Ithaca, near Richland Center, in southwest Wisconsin. We were on WRCO radio with Ron Fruit. And she stayed overnight with us at our farm north of Loyd. We still have a pillow with her needlework that she made as a thank you gift. I bought some Raspberry beer from Daniel Miller at Ocooch Books and Libations and we sat on the deck and toasted the Richland County Hills.
It was noted, in one of the many obituaries that appeared in newspapers around the world, that Rosmarie “…enjoyed the occasional beer right up to the end; her favorite was the von Trapp Helles, from the brewery founded by her brother Johannes.”
We just received word about the passing of our friend, Rosmarie Trapp. We had lost touch with her in recent years, so I was shocked when I stumbled onto her obituary in The New York Times from May 18, 2022.
Neil Genzlinger wrote: “Rosmarie Trapp, a member of the singing family made famous by the stage musical and film “The Sound of Music” and the last surviving daughter of Baron Georg Johannes von Trapp, the family patriarch, died on May 13 at a nursing home in Morrisville, Vt. She was 93. The Trapp Family Lodge, the family business in Stowe, Vt., announced her death on Tuesday. Ms. Trapp (who dropped the “von” from her name years ago) was the daughter of Georg and Maria Augusta (Kutschera) von Trapp, the would-be nun who became a governess with the family and ultimately married the baron.”
On the night she spoke and sang at our church in Wauwatosa, WI, which seats about 500; it was packed with more than 700 people. I had just started the vision books, so I boldly asked her if she had a story to share. She ended up giving me a story for each of the three books in the series.
In the summer of 2004, I had the joy of traveling with Rosmarie on a five-day, whirlwind storytelling tour of southern Wisconsin, including a stop at my home church. We traveled 800 miles, were on three radio programs, and spoke live to hundreds people in five Wisconsin communities including Kenosha, Wauwatosa, Plymouth, Sheboygan, and Ithaca, where I went to high school.
Rosmarie was the firstborn child of the baron and Maria, of the famed von Trapp Family Singers of Sound of Music fame. She had seven older half-siblings and two younger siblings. The von Trapps escaped from Austria when the Nazis came in 1938. Rosmarie said her parents had a vision, like Abraham, to go to a new land that God would show them; a decision, she said, that saved their lives. She was 9 years old when they arrived in “Amerika” and settled on a farm in Stowe, Vermont, where the von Trapp Family Lodge is still located today. They slept in a haymow in a barn the first summer while their home was being built.
The von Trapp Family Singers offered concerts all over the world in the 1940s and 50s. “Tiny one-horse towns and big cities, we went everywhere – every state in the United States, except Alaska, Canada, Mexico, South America and New Zealand,” Rosmarie said.
When we passed Kohler, WI on our way from a book signing in Plymouth to a church event in Sheboygan, she exclaimed, “Oh, we played here in the 1940s.” She remembered touring the factory where the popular Kohler tubs, sinks and other bathroom accessories were made.
I opened each program with vision stories from the books, and after I had warmed up the crowd Rosmarie would come out and tell the stories behind the story of The Sound of Music; what really happened and what was just “Hollywood.” She said it was true the baron had a whistle, but he was not a soldier and did not teach the children to march. He had a whistle because he had been a submarine captain – it was the only way to attract the sailors’ attention over the noisy engines.
Rosmarie told about appearing briefly with her mother as an extra in one scene of the movie, as Julie Andrews sang “I Have Confidence”. It was shot in Salzburg, their former home. After 10 takes, she was glad that was the beginning and the end of her movie career.
Wherever we went, Rosmarie witnessed to her faith, played guitar, and led people in singing favorite songs from The Sound of Music: “Do-Re-Mi,” “My Favorite Things,” “Edelweiss,” “Climb Every Mountain” and “The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music.” The tunes are still ringing in my head. Rosmarie always invited children to come up and sing with her. At one event there was a developmentally disabled girl who was singing loudly and off-key. Rosmarie invited her up on stage, and had her sit by her side and sing with her during the rest of the performance.
People were always touched by Rosmarie’s personal testimony. One night she told of assurance that came to her on a seven-day personal retreat: "...the Lord visited me in a bright, golden light in my room... the golden glow brought peace to my soul, and I found that I could stand upon the rock of my salvation. At first I was pretty wobbly, and it took years to be firm. It's been twenty years since that blessing, and I'm still learning not to wobble."
I heard new stories each time Rosmarie spoke. On the last night, she told about a sister who was always late. They would tease her, telling her she would be late for her own funeral. When she died, her body was sent by mistake to Waterbury, Connecticut, instead of Waterbury, Vermont. They started the funeral without her, and when the casket arrived about halfway through the service, everyone had a good laugh.
“It was the best funeral we ever had,” Rosmarie said.
Rosmarie did a program with me for another overflow crowd at Willow Valley United Methodist Church [my home church] in Ithaca, near Richland Center, in southwest Wisconsin. We were on WRCO radio with Ron Fruit. And she stayed overnight with us at our farm north of Loyd. We still have a pillow with her needlework that she made as a thank you gift. I bought some Raspberry beer from Daniel Miller at Ocooch Books and Libations and we sat on the deck and toasted the Richland County Hills.
It was noted, in one of the many obituaries that appeared in newspapers around the world, that Rosmarie “…enjoyed the occasional beer right up to the end; her favorite was the von Trapp Helles, from the brewery founded by her brother Johannes.”
