Girone was born as Rose Raubvogel in Janów, Poland (then Russian Empire). Her family briefly lived in Vienna before relocating to Hamburg, Germany, and setting up a theatrical costume shop. Girone recalled sliding down the banisters of the two-storey building’s staircase, and also learning how to knit from one of her aunts.

In 1938, Girone married her first husband, Julius Mannheim, in an arranged marriage. The couple moved to Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) later that year. Mannheim was shortly thereafter arrested during Kristallnacht and held in Buchenwald concentration camp. Girone witnessed the Nazis destroy her town, burn down her synagogue, and throw Jewish books on a bonfire.

Girone was eight months pregnant with her daughter Reha when she fled the city with her mother and uncle. In 1939, her cousin sent her a Chinese visa, and Girone used it to set her husband free and leave Nazi Germany a few weeks later to start their journey to Shanghai.

The month-long voyage to China saw Girone, her family, and all other Jews on board dine separately from non-Jewish passengers. When the family settled in, they had to trade linens and trinkets to find money to live on, eventually having to rely on relief agencies for monetary aid. Mannheim later found a job as a taxi driver, and Girone was talent-spotted by a Viennese-Jewish entrepreneur for her knitting, selling her creations and later started knitting sweaters to help support her family.

In 1947, the family were granted a visa to the United States. Girone hid cash inside her hand-knitted sweaters and took it on board the ship to San Francisco. The family then took the train to New York where Girone was reunited with her mother, brother, and grandmother. They lived in a hotel as part of a refugee settlement program, and Girone worked as a knitting instructor.

Girone and Mannheim divorced in 1948 due to his lack of motivation to find employment. She moved to Florida with her daughter and worked at The Sagamore, a luxury hotel and resort. She met and married Jack Girone in 1968 and they moved to Whitestone, Queens, New York. She opened her own knitting business in nearby Rego Park and later opened a second location in Forest Hills. She and her business partner later went their separate ways and ran a store each.

In 1980, at the age of 68, Girone sold her business and began knitting for a non-profit organisation in Great Neck, Long Island. She was widowed after Jack Girone died in 1989. She was employed by Dina Mor, a customer and later friend of hers until her retirement in 2014 at the age of 102.