Rose Koscielny, a former Saugus Union School District board member who served for two decades before retiring in 2016, died last week. She was 74.
Saugus district governing board member Christopher Trunkey announced her death at the start of the district’s regular board meeting held on Tuesday night and asked that the meeting be dedicated in her memory before leading the flag salute.
“I served with her for a couple of years, besides that she was an incredibly wonderful person. She had some longtime volunteer service with our (Parent Teacher Associations) before becoming a board member,” he said during the meeting.
Trunkey announced that a service for Koscielny has been scheduled for Aug. 25 at 10 a.m. at Eternal Valley Memorial Park Mortuary in Newhall. It is open to the public.
Other constituents paid their respects during their reports throughout the meeting.
Koscielny was honored in a special ceremony with local leaders following her retirement in 2016. Former Sen. Scott Wilk, city Councilwoman Marsha McLean, and representatives for former Rep. Steve Knight as well as representatives of the Castaic Union, Sulphur Springs Union and William S. Hart Union High school districts were also present, according to a news release at the time.
Koscielny wasn’t just a community advocate. She was also a loving mother who was passionate about cooking, gardening and bringing people together for special occasions and holidays, her daughter, Kelly Millar, said during a brief phone call Wednesday.
Millar recalled that her mother became heavily involved in the community and later ran for the school board while Millar was still an elementary school student.
“I just remember how important it was to her. There were certain issues … things that she was really passionate about for the children, and so in order for her to be able to advocate for kids, she just thought the best way to do that would be to run,” Millar said. “That’s really the person that she was. She saw something wrong and wanted to help or wanted to change something.”
Millar hopes to carry on her mother’s legacy by becoming more involved in her community and “standing up for what you believe in and advocating for others,” she said, adding that what she’ll miss most is the frequent phone calls they had to check in with one another.
Koscielny was first elected in 1995 and served in different capacities on the dais. She also served as the Santa Clarita Valley School Trustees Association secretary-treasurer from 1996 to 1997, president from 1998 to 2000 and a member of the Los Angeles County School Trustees Association in 1997-1998 and 2001-2001, according to the release.
