Rosemary O'Donnell, a homemaker, died of respiratory failure Nov. 13 at Stella Maris in Timonium. The former Cedarcroft resident was 90.
Born Rosemary Ann Frederick in Baltimore, she was raised on Bolton Street and later lived on Southway. Her father, Herman A. Frederick, owned a roofing, heating and plumbing business. Her mother, Mae Ellis Frederick, died in 1930. Mrs. O'Donnell was a great-niece of George A. Frederick, architect of Baltimore's City Hall and the Druid Hill Park pavilions.
She attended the Cathedral School and was a 1941 graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School. She attended Strayer Business College and became a secretary for Furness Withy & Co., a South Street stevedoring firm.
In 1948, she married James Joseph O'Donnell Sr., a Naval Academy graduate and attorney who headed the state Department of Planning and was named Maryland secretary of transportation by Gov. Harry Hughes. He served from 1979 to 1981.