Rose Marie Paola Lamey

Rose Marie Paola Lamey

October 28, 1931 – December 16, 2025

On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, Rose Marie Paola Lamey, known by family and friends as Rosie, passed peacefully at 3:37 a.m.

Rose Marie was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Angelo Joseph and Jeanette Davidson Paola. When her father accepted a regional sales position with Swift & Company, the family relocated to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Rose Marie graduated from St. John High School in Gulfport and then set her sights on New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Upon her return from the Big Apple, she met and married Ben Lamey from Latimer, who was an accomplished meat processor. Together, they not only started a family but also launched a career by opening Lamey Fabricated Meats in downtown Biloxi on Reynoir Street. Rose Marie worked alongside Ben to raise their four children and build several successful businesses, including Cedar Lake Marine in North Biloxi. Rosie was supportive of her children and grandchildren, chaperoning band trips, attending football games and graduations, award presentations, pinning ceremonies, and even accompanying her children on their national convention trips. She was a proud mama. One of her highlights was a two-week trip with her daughters to Sicily, the homeland of her grandparents, where she was able to dip her feet in the Tyrrhenian Sea in Cefalu.

Upon retiring from her business, Rosie remained active at home with quilting, canning, and tending to her vegetable garden and fruit trees. She particularly loved her figs, especially enjoying them fresh from the tree. Additionally, she was known as the queen of the kitchen, always having something baking or cooking on the stove. Her signature dish was spaghetti and meatballs with homemade tomato gravy. Rosie was raised on the traditions of her Sicilian heritage and has passed down family recipes for making Italian sausage and Cuccidati (Italian Fig Cookies). She always welcomed and fed her visitors with whatever she had on hand; no one left hungry! She also found comfort from her rescues, her four-legged children, Sallie and Cricket, who brought her so much joy in her later years.

Rosie was one of a kind. She was a determined woman who faced her health issues head-on and overcame multiple battles with cancer. She was straightforward, intelligent, and at times stubborn. Independent and always sincere. She came from an era that lived by the motto, "waste not, want not,” and found a use for most everything. While she was thrifty, she never went without what she truly needed.

Rose Marie is preceded in death by her parents, Angelo Joseph Paola, Sr., and Jeanette Davidson Paola, her husband, Ben Joseph Lamey, Sr., her grandson, Keith Garner; her brother, Joe Paola, Jr. She is survived by her children, Karen Lamey Parker, Anthony "Bo" Lamey (Leah), Susan D. Lamey, and Ben "Butch" Lamey, Jr. (Angie); Her grandchildren, Dr. Jason Parker, Jeni Parker Garner, Lauren Lamey, Sophia Ackerman, and Sam Allen, along with her great-grandchildren Nick Crandall, Ashley Crandall and Shelby Allen; her brother Nathan Paola (Carol), and sister-in-law, Shannon Paola.

The family would like to extend their sincere appreciation to Gentiva Hospice, Heavens Harbor, and Debbie Roberson for the care and professionalism provided during this difficult time. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Rose Marie’s honor.

Visitation will be held on Monday, December 22, 2025, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at Riemann Family Funeral Home, West Jackson County, located at 13872 Lemoyne Boulevard, Biloxi, Mississippi 39532.

A prayer service will follow at 10:00 a.m.

Burial will take place immediately following the service at Ed Lamey Cemetery in Latimer, Mississippi.

Riemann Family Funeral Home, West Jackson County, is honored to serve the Lamey family during this time.