Ruth A. Rosol

Ruth Ann Rosol passed away on Friday April 10th after a long battle with dementia in Aurora, Colorado. She was born on August 3rd 1936 in Galesburg, Illinois and was the only child of Paul and Lavonne Monson.

At an early age she learned to sew and play the piano and developed a love of art. In high school she always made sure to sign up for art during every semester. This led her to pursue a degree in Art at the University of Iowa and then Bradley University.

In April of 1956 she met the love of her life, William J. Rosol, while playing tennis on the courts at Bradley. They quickly fell in love and were married on December 15th of that same year at First Baptist Church of Galesburg. With her sewing ability she made the dress she wore.

William’s first job took them to Helena, Montana and then on to Denver, Colorado where they were blessed with two sons, Tom and Terry. Ruth continued her passions of sewing, art, and music. She made numerous outfits for her sons and husband over the years and introduced Tom and Terry to art by hosting weekly craft days for them and neighbor children where they would do things like paint rocks, make popsicles, or finger paint. At Christmas she could always be found at the piano playing the favorite family Christmas songs.

Later in life she picked up the art of leaded glass from a friend and made numerous sun catchers and later she did windows and lamps that were larger projects. She and the friend spent a number of years traveling the craft show circuit in the Denver area selling their creations.

Ruth worked as an administrative assistant before and after the birth and raising of her sons and finished her working career as William’s assistant at Rocky Mtn. Electrical League. Here they made many wonderful business trips together to Hawaii, Washington DC, Portland, and the Grand Tetons, just to name a few. One of their favorite destinations was Santa Fe, NM where they often collected Indian art. After retiring in 1996 they continued their travel and Ruth also continued her watercolor painting and did many works of the prominent buildings of the places they visited. This included several mission churches, covered bridges, and street scenes in cities in Maryland and Virginia. She also painted pictures of her and William’s childhood homes.

With the advent of the home computer, Ruth took up genealogy and pursued the structure of her own family tree with tenacity. She and William visited numerous libraries, court houses, and cemeteries across the Midwest. At the end she had identified over 87,000 descendants.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Lavonne and is survived by her husband William of 69 years and her sons Tom (Judi) and Terry (Michele) and two grandchildren (Noah and Savannah).

A remembrance service will be held on Saturday May 23rd at 10:30am at Horan & McConaty Funeral Services at 11150 E. Dartmouth, Aurora, CO. 80014.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.