The origin story of Rosie the cow, a fixture in St. Paul’s Mac-Groveland neighborhood

Molly Wilson, Pioneer Press
·3 min read

As Pam Quirk Becker’s 50th birthday was approaching nearly 20 years ago, her husband and best friend from college were plotting a surprise.

With Pam away from the house, a U-Haul pulled up to Randolph Avenue and Warwick Street, and her husband and two of their children carried into the backyard a 6-foot cow made from an oil drum and milk cans.

“Everyone likes to give Pam fun gifts that they wouldn’t want in their own home,” said her husband, Dave Quirk Becker.

When Pam returned home, she was led to the backyard to find the cow with birthday balloons on it. Pam was udderly delighted.

She recalled her friend saying, “You know, Pam, not everyone would like a cow in their backyard.”

“I was thrilled. Absolutely thrilled. Not everybody wants a big cow, but I love cows. And so this was the perfect gift,” she said. “It’s recycling in a very creative way.”

Rosie, who arrived in 2004, now stands in the front yard.

“It’s a sweet name, and cows are so sweet and docile, and Rosie just seemed like the perfect name for a cow,” Pam said. “She makes people’s lives rosy, that’s for sure.”

Dressing up

Pam and Dave decorate Rosie for holidays and other special occasions, from Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day to the State Fair, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Rosie also dresses up for family milestones like weddings and graduations or to celebrate sports teams or promote political causes. The cow will fly a Ukrainian flag until there is peace, Pam said.

“I’m a big holiday queen and I love to decorate,” Pam said. “I think something was probably coming up like Christmas or Halloween or one of the biggies and I just decided to decorate it, and then it just took off.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosie had a mask for every occasion. Pam’s favorite theme is Christmas, when Rosie wears antlers. Dave made those, as well as a turkey tail and a shamrock with a pot of gold and rainbow. Supplies often come from the eclectic Ax-Man Surplus store.

A former architectural drafting teacher, Dave has seen plenty of students’ projects that seem impossible, but Pam has yet to give him an assignment he hasn’t solved.

“We’ve always found a way to make it work,” he said. “Pam’s a creative person, and I make her vision happen.”

The neighborhood

Since moving to the front yard, Rosie has become a Macalester-Groveland neighborhood landmark, showing the way for pizza drivers and attracting high school photography students.

“The cow has been photographed by every high school kid in this area for years and years and years,” Dave said. “It’s been in every yearbook.”

Once, when a family knocked on the door and explained their tradition of sitting on sculptures they encounter, Pam brought out her step stool.

Another time, a neighbor told Pam she “saved” him because his daughter agreed to go to daycare only after he promised they could see Rosie along the way.

Pam, who worked as an early childhood educator, always has liked cows. While she didn’t grow up on a farm, she enjoyed sleepovers at friends’ farms near Watertown, Wisconsin.

Rosie is a Holstein, Pam’s favorite dairy breed.

“I love that black and white in contrast, and they’re just so pretty,” she said.

Cows can be found throughout the Quirk Becker home as neighbors have gifted everything from mobiles and portrait books to salt and pepper shakers.

“People are just so kind and so appreciative. They just really go out of their way to let me know what this means to them and how much joy it brings in their life or how when they drive by it makes them smile,” Pam said. “You know, I’ve lived with it for all these years, and I still enjoy decorating it. I love doing that.”

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