From collection Person List
The granddaughter of Unity founders Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Rosemary Fillmore was born on October 21, 1925, to W. Rickert and Harriet Collins Fillmore at Unity Farm, the only person known to have been born on the grounds. She spent much of her childhood there and enjoyed an especially close relationship with her grandfather. In fact, Rosemary later recalled that Charles had wanted to name her “Unity Farm.” Rosemary successfully combined her Unity upbringing with pioneering work in the field of broadcasting, becoming for many the voice and face of the Unity movement.
Rosemary graduated from Christian College in Columbia, Missouri, in 1944, and went on to study radio broadcasting at Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. She began her broadcasting career at the KMPC radio station in Hollywood. She would later rely on many of her Hollywood connections for her broadcast work with Unity. Rosemary returned to Unity Farm in 1946 as a full-time assistant to the editor of Daily Word magazine. She married Stanley Grace in 1947, and they had two children, Stanley Rickert Grace and Rosalind Fillmore Grace. After divorcing Stanley in 1966, Rosemary married Rev. Ralph Rhea in 1968.
In 1957, the president of KMBC, Channel 9 in Kansas City, asked Rosemary to adapt Unity’s Daily Word for television. Presented as a non-denominational film with Rosemary as host, the program featured readings from the magazine: the word of the day, a Bible passage, and a short meditation. The Daily Word ran for 12 years and was broadcast on 75 stations across the United States. After it ended, Rosemary collaborated with her husband Ralph Rhea on a new radio and television project, The Word From Unity. They designed each episode of The Word as a public service program in a shorter, one-minute format to focus on one word and a short reflection on its meaning. The Rheas recruited dozens of celebrities to serve as guest stars, which helped The Word reach over one thousand radio and television stations between 1969 and 1992. Rosemary also produced three documentary films inspired by Unity: Around the World in Search of Faith, Charles Fillmore: American Mystic, and Unity, A School of Christianity. For her life’s work in broadcasting, Rosemary was named in Who’s Who in American Women.
In recognition of her work with Unity, Rosemary was granted special ordination in 1980, and for a time served two churches in Florida. She loved to travel and made an annual trip to Jamaica, where she helped raise funds for the Unity Preparatory & Kindergarten School in Montego Bay. She also opened the Myrtle Fillmore Center in Kansas City in 1983, which eventually merged with the Unity Temple on the Plaza. Rosemary served on the staff of the Unity School for Religious Studies between 1989 and 1998, during which she was an active speaker at Unity churches and centers. Her autobiography, That’s Just How My Spirit Travels, was published in 2003. Rosemary Fillmore Rhea died on October 11, 2012.
