Hi Despair,
It's late and I'm tired...

But this is all very interesting!
I had not thought about the possibility of Rose being such a young woman. The idea in my head was always a woman who was at least middle-aged, if not older.
If Rose Whitford is our Rose, then she only became a Peck after Emil had retuned to Germany. Which is possible. We are going on what is in Birgit's christening cert from early 1949 (Godmother: Rose Peck) and how Emil referred to her (Mrs Peck). There would have been no need for him to have referred to her as Rose Whitford, even if that is how he had known her. (I hope you understand what I mean!)
Maybe the contact between the families had already fizzled out by the time she married Mr Rourke.
This is getting complicated!
I need to get some sleep and think about it again tomorrow.

Thanks very much!
Karen