Rosanne Jones Davis

Rosie was born in Ft. Wayne and spent her summers and week-ends at her grandparent’s large cottage at Lake Sylvan in Northern Indiana. When she was 9, her parents moved to Indianapolis and her 8 cousins started to arrive. She was happy to have children to play with, especially on holidays and times at the lake. Her father was from Arizona, and most summer vacations Orrin, Bonnie and Rosie would be bound for the west coast to visit Orrin’s family in Arizona and California.
Rosie has a happy childhood. As an only child she was spoiled by her family, especially her adoring father. When her family moved to Indianapolis they joined the Riviera Club and the Columbia Club. She spent many summer days playing cards at the Rivi by the pool, and many holidays and birthday dinners at the Columbia Club. Rosie attended Broad Ripple High School where she was active in many school clubs and activities. She sang lead in the group The Offbeats, was a Homecoming Princess twice, was in the National Honor Society, and on the staff of the school newspaper. When she was able to drive, her parents gave her a new T-Bird Convertible, and they were her favorite cars throughout her life.
Rosie always had pets. She loved cocker spaniels but couldn’t resist any dog. Since she never had children, her animals were her babies and she doted on them.
Rosie went to Butler University where she belonged to Alpha Chi Omega. She was active on campus, being on the yearbook staff and the chairman and Master of Ceremonies of Spring Sing. The three months between her junior and senior years she went to Europe with 20 girls from all over the United States. Rosie graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and began her career as a kindergarten teacher. She was offered a position as the training director of the William H. Block Co. where she oversaw staff education and college recruitment. After many years in this capacity, she changed and went into bookkeeping and office management. She retired as the Financial Manager of Alliance Home Health Care, a position she held for 15 years.
After being widowed in her 40’s, Rosie met the love of her life, Steve. He introduced her to ballroom dancing and they belonged to the Continental Dance Club. They also loved to travel and went all over the U.U, Mexico and the Caribbean. Their favorite place was Aruba, where they gradually accumulated 5 weeks of timeshare. When at home, Rosie loved going out to dinner with friends and playing cards. They liked to play poker with their “card club” and going to casinos and playing Blackjack.
In 2010, after bouts of coughing, Rosie was diagnosed with Wegener’s Disease, a terminal auto-immune disease. After 2 years of chemotherapy and steroids, her disease became dormant, but there is no cure, so she was tested frequently for the Wegener’s return. She was left with damage to her lungs, esophagus, heart and kidneys as well as extreme lymphedema, which caused such swelling in her feet and legs she became almost totally immobile. She was unable to walk, so she had to give up ballroom dancing. She was unable to fly, so she gave up traveling. She finally could not even get in the car. She was home-bound.
During each moment of her illness, her beloved Steve was by her side. He had always been her husband, lover, best friend and now became her care-giver. He was constantly by her side, and his presence made it easier to get by the long days of confinement. She spent hours doing the counted cross-stitch that she gave to friends and family. She looked forward to visits, e-mails and phone calls from friends and family.
Even though she had lots of bad times in her life… the brutal murder of her father when she was barely 24, divorce, the death of her husband, Bill Jones, her extended illness…she managed to keep her spirits up. She loved her cousins, her friends, her animals and most of all, her sweet Steve.