Third of 10 profiles of The Enquirer's 1996 Women of the Year.

BY KRISTA RAMSEY
Enquirer contributor

It is all still there, in the grace of the lifted hand, the confident set of the chin, the charm of the smile.

Rosemary Kelly Conrad holds a tiny pitcher of cream on her outstretched palm. She pauses, then as if on cue, launches into a sales pitch so warm, so personable that Old McDonald himself would drink it up.

''You just had to hold it up and believe in it,'' she says of the approach that landed her in front of national television cameras in the 1950s, selling everything from Ford automobiles to Wrigley's spearmint gum.

But Cincinnatians had succumbed to her charms long before.

Rosemary Olberding was an early favorite on radio and television, chatting with television hostess Dottie Mack, appearing as Nurse Rosemary and Princess Rosemary on early children's programs, and landing a spot for three years on the Bob Braun Show.

From pantomiming records to covering the local arts scene to hawking toothpaste, there wasn't anything that Rosemary couldn't make look fun.

Years later, when she turned her talents to fund-raising and volunteer work, the same skills applied.

Everybody smiles

Today, after two decades of philanthropy, her friends and fellow volunteers say she can still get anybody to do anything - or give anything - for a good cause.

''Everyone knows Rosemary,'' says Maria Cholak, director of development for the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor Foundation, a favorite cause of Mrs. Conrad. ''You say her name and everyone smiles.''

For her professional and philanthropic contributions - and in no small part, for her ability to make people smile - Mrs. Conrad has been named a 1996 Enquirer Woman of the Year.

From the first, her trademarks have been hard work, charm and an appealing brand of confidence.

Fresh from graduation at the University of Cincinnati's College- Conservatory of Music, she walked into the office of Mort Watters, general manager of WCPO-TV. ''I'd like to work for you,'' she said.

''That would be fine,'' he said. ''What can you do?''

For the next two years, she showed him. She headed the music library and, when television arrived, moved on to talk shows and filling two hours of live programming each day.

When she married at 23, she moved to an Illinois Air Force base with her airman husband, thinking she was leaving entertainment behind. But tragedy struck. Her husband was killed in an airplane crash, and Rosemary was a young widow. Life had quickly gone from high hopes to sorrow, but Rosemary hung on.

She moved back to Cincinnati, resuming a broadcast career that would span the next 20 years and take her to New York and California. She never compromised her top priority, however, her children, Kathleen and Paul Kelly.

''My earliest recollection begins with her serving on parish council at St. Ann's in Grosbeck, the board of directors for LaSalle High School and the St. Joseph Infant and Maternity Home - all the while being a full-time working single mother caring for two school-age children and two elderly parents,'' writes her daughter, now Kathleen Kelly Bareswilt.

''You either die or you don't,'' Mrs. Conrad says without a trace of self-pity. ''I have a capacity for facing things, but not dwelling on them.''

At the center of things

In the mid-1960s, she served as director of women's features for WLW-TV, and produced a series of five-minute features that would change her life. They put her in the center of every charitable, civic and fine arts event in the city.

''I thought, 'If I ever have the time, I'm going to do just what these women are doing for the community,''' she remembers. ''You could make lasting friendships and give something back to the community.''

In 1978, after marrying physician Paul Conrad and retiring from television, that's precisely what she did.

Her civic contributions have ranged from serving on steering committees for galas for the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, to being a commentator for the symphony's Lollipop concerts and fund-raising fashion shows.

She has orchestrated publicity efforts for benefits for the Cincinnati Opera, American Cancer Society, Springer and St. Rita's schools and AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati.

But, for 18 years, the center of her volunteer efforts has been the Franciscan Health System. She is a founding member and former president of the Guild of the Franciscan Hospital, Western Hills, and is a board member of the Franciscan development council and leadership campaign. ''The Franciscan Foundation raises money for medical care for people who can't pay,'' she says. ''That's why I work so hard for them.''

Her high-profile, media-savvy background is put to good use handling publicity and emceeing events. But staff members say she's just as willing to stuff envelopes, answer phones, address invitations and fix lunches honoring other volunteers.

Franciscan Foundation development director Maria Cholak says, despite all of Mrs. Conrad's organizational skills and marketing know-how, it's still her charm and high spirits that lure people to work with her.

''She rallies the troops. She's part of the family. She brings us so much fun,'' Mrs. Cholak says, searching for a perfect parting compliment.

''She's a cheerleader,'' she says, breaking into a smile. ''Rosemary is the ultimate cheerleader.''

The Enquirer's Women of the Year will be honored noon next Wednesday at a luncheon at the Hyatt Regency, Fifth and Elm streets. Tickets, $15, must be purchased in advance; call 768-8104, 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4:30 p.m. through Monday. Tickets also may be purchased during these hours on the 20th floor of The Enquirer building, Third and Elm streets.

Previous stories

DR. ELAINE BOYNTON March 4,1997
JANET ACH March 3, 1997
WOMEN OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED March 2, 1997