Rosemary McNerney Winkler, a life-long Albuquerque resident, passed peacefully in her home on July 23, 2026. She was born in Joplin, Missouri, near Camp Crowder where her father was stationed during World War II. Rosemary always considered herself an Albuquerque native as her parents were married in Albuquerque where her maternal grandparents, John L. and Pansy Woodward Tischhauser, lived. She was the daughter of Rosemary Tischhauser and John E. McNerney, and attended Fatima elementary and St. Pius X High School, graduating in 1962. She attended UNM for one and a half years, and then took a job with the City of Albuquerque Planning Department, becoming an expert on zoning, and friends with the City Clerk, standing in for her at City Commission meetings. She met William C. Winkler, an architecture student, through friends, and they married in 1964. Her first son Karl was born in 1966 and her second son Kirk was born in 1971. She became involved with the PTA and later she and William started the La Mesa Community Improvement Association "CIA", becoming urban guerrillas. In 1982 Rosemary completed an associates degree in accounting. After an internship, she started her own bookkeeping service in 1984, getting referrals from prestigious local CPAs. Rosemary was successful in business for 30 years until retirement. Music sustained her during difficult times, Mozart being her favorite composer, but she had many favorites. Rosemary, always asking questions of relatives and parents about family history, published five family histories and donated her father's original military papers to the Library of Congress Veterans Project. Even before retirement she volunteered at the Albuquerque Public Library Genealogy Center and continued after retirement. As a member of the Albuquerque Genealogical Society, Rosemary was editor of their Quarterly publication for eight years, starting a series on early Albuquerque families and winning a first-place award from the New Mexico Press Women. Her book, Stories of Early Albuquerque, came out in 2021. She was pre-deceased by her husband of 56 years and survived by sons Karl and wife Jane and Kirk and wife Kristy Jo, granddaughter Nina Winkler, and siblings Patricia Tillery, Kathleen McNerney, John McNerney and special friend Janet, and Jerry McNerney and wife Mary, as well as many beloved nieces and nephews, cousins in Albuquerque, Kansas City and Tarbert, County Kerry, Ireland, and special friends in Puebla, Mexico, and elsewhere. Rosemary was a life-long New York Yankee fan and watched one game at Yankee Stadium, The House that Ruth Built, a week before it was torn down. 

A celebration of life will be held on September 29, 2026 - French Funerals Lomas Reception Hall at 2:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Rosemary's name to Chatter ABQ, the San Juan Symphony, or the Albuquerque Genealogical Society.