Antoinette "Toni" Fraser Rosell
Trailblazing Montana legislator, lifelong champion of women’s and children’s rights, presidential appointee, beloved guidance counselor, award-winning community leader, devoted wife, mother, sister, aunt, daughter, grandmother, and friend . . . Toni Rosell did it all, with vitality, grace, loyalty, and enormous love. She left surrounded by family on April 18, 2011.
Marie Antoinette was born on September 18, 1926, in Princeton, Ill., to Robert Berkeley (R.B.) Fraser and Rosabel Walter. With three daughters and one son, the Frasers settled in Billings. Toni attended McKinley School and Billings Senior High, where she graduated in 1944. She was active in everything from school government to cheerleading. Being a natural athlete in many sports, she won the Montana State Women’s Singles and Doubles Tennis Championship. Toni jumped horses on the California circuit, worked in a Honolulu sports shop, and traveled all over the world throughout her life.
Toni received her B.A. in Psychology, University of Montana, in 1948, and her M.A. in Student Personnel Administration from Columbia University Teachers’ College, New York, in 1952. Toni has held various educational counseling and administrative positions on both college and secondary school levels (1950-98), such as Dean of Girls, Missoula County High, and Billings Senior High; Director of Student Activities, EMC; Girls Counselor, Youth Guidance Council; Guidance Counselor, Lincoln Jr. High, Castle Rock, and Will James.
Toni served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives beginning in 1957 (to 1963). She was the first woman elected from Yellowstone County and the only woman in the House at that time. When she married Earl L. Rosell, who supported and encouraged her ambitions, she made the Rose her political logo. In 1959 their daughter, René, was born. She then served four terms as State Senator (1967-76). Toni wrote, “Having served as the only woman in the House in 1957, I was pleased to see that the number of women elected to the legislature grew considerably.”
Sen. Rosell worked tirelessly for women’s rights and Montana ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 1975 she was the Senate Minority Whip, the first woman elected to a leadership position in either House. In 1976, President Gerald Ford appointed her to the National Advisory Council on Economic Opportunity; she also ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor.
Through the years Toni has belonged to, held office in, and supported organizations such as Theta Sorority, Zonta Club, Delta Kappa Gamma, Moss Mansion, Billings Blue Blazers (Trailblazers), BPW Club, DAR, AAUW, YWCA, Head Start, and American Legion Auxiliary Girl’s State Program, to name a few. She also served on boards appointed by the Montana State Governor, such as Licensed Professional Counselors and Social Workers, and Women in Employment Advisory Council.
Toni always made time for family and friends, and she shared with Earl a deep love for Native culture and traditions. They were both adopted into the Crow Nation by the Real Bird Family.
With her boundless energy and generosity, her positivity and wit, her abiding faith in our ability to change for the better, Toni brought out the best in everyone, making us laugh in the process.
Antoinette “Toni” Fraser Rosell was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her stepson Earl III “Trey,” and her step-grandson Earl IV. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, René and Richard Yarbrough and their children, Jordan, Shelby, and Hayden; by her stepdaughter Erleen “Tami” Rosell and her children Rebecca, Christie, and Matheu, and granddaughter Victoria; by her step-granddaughter Sarah; by her siblings Susie Kurth, Carol Fraser, and Robert Fraser; and by numerous nieces, nephews, and dear friends. Many thanks go to Dr. Connor, Doreen Kenfield, and entire staff at Billings Clinic.
Please join us for a Celebration of Life on Sunday, May 15 at 3:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to a charity of one’s choice.
Remembrances
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