OBITUARY: Model for WWII icon dies at 86

Rosalie Kunert, aka “Rosie the Riveter,” of Burbank died June 28. She was 86.

She was born Rosalie Helen Merritt on Oct. 2, 1922, in Hackensack, Minn. In late 1942 she relocated to Southern California where she began working at the Lockheed Airplane Factory in Burbank. Like many women during World War II, she took on previously male dominated trades such as riveting teams working on the cockpit shells of airplane bombers.

It was here that she was approached for an interview to help promote and encourage women to take over vacated jobs for the duration of the war. She was initially singled out for her tall, statuesque appearance and bright auburn hair tied back in her polka-dot head scarf. They asked her to consider appearing in a promotional film about the war effort at home, but she modestly declined, not wanting to be singled out from the others.

Regardless, the name was still officially coined. Another woman in Michigan was chosen and eventually Rosie the Riveter went on to become perhaps the most widely recognized icon of that era.

Films, posters and even a song were used to encourage women to go to work in support of the war effort. Rosie was very proud of being a pioneer in proving that women could do the jobs known as men’s work, creating an entirely new image of women in American society and setting the stage for future generations .

After the war, Rosie met and married Gerald John Kunert, and they remained married for more than 55 years before he died in 2001.

The couple resided in Burbank, raising five children. To supplement their income during the ’60s, she worked out of her house as a barber for the neighborhood with clientele reaching more than 200 at its height.

Most boys attending St. Francis Xavier and Horace Mann elementary schools in this era will fondly remember the Bazooka bubble gum they received along with their parent’s appreciation of the 50-cent haircuts.

In 1968 she returned to the work force at Miller Elementary School in the cafeteria and later was the manager at Washington Elementary. She worked with the Burbank Unified School District for 16 years.

Rosie was a very driven and creative individual and nothing seemed insurmountable with her “can do” attitude.