Rose Mary Anderson was born in Scotland, Great Britain. At the age of 7, Rose Mary and her family settled permanently in New Jersey residing first in Paterson until moving to Clifton in 1968. Rose Mary became a naturalized citizen in 1964. She graduated from St. Brendan School in 1968 and Paterson Catholic Regional High School in 1972. Rose Mary earned her BA in Philosophy from Montclair State University and attended Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange concentrating her studies in theology and pastoral ministry.

St. Brendan has been home to Rose Mary since she was a child. As a young adult she was a Lector, Eucharistic Minister, a member of the choir, a Religious Education teacher, a member of the Liturgy Committee, and secretary of the Parish Council. In January of 1978 she began her professional career as a religion teacher at Pope Pius XII High School in Passaic, eventually moving on to Paul VI High School in Clifton, and then to Paterson Catholic Regional High School. In addition to teaching high school religion she also worked part-time as a Director of Religious Education at St. Clement, Pope and Martyr in Rockaway Township from 1980 until 1988 when she was offered a part-time position as Youth Minister at St. Brendan. As Youth Minister she was primarily responsible for the high school Confirmation Program. In 1993 Rose Mary was offered a full-time position as Director of Religious Education at St. Brendan.

Rose Mary is the proud "parent" of two girls ages 5 and 3 -- Timber, a chocolate Labrador Retriever and Splinter, a yellow Lab. She enjoys the seashore, reading, cross stitching, bicycling, gardening, and NY Mets baseball.