Willis was born in Davenport, Iowa, on September 5, 1954. He graduated from Davenport West High School (1972) and earned an Associate’s Degree from Scott Community College (1974). He met Anna (McDermott) Rosing in Davenport, and they were happily married for 34 years.
Before retiring in 2017, Willis’s forty-year career as a manufacturing engineer took him and his family from Iowa to St. Louis to Bowling Green to Winston-Salem—with brief stops in Mexico, Germany, China, and Belgium along the way. His last (and favorite) job as “Pops” brought him to Louisville to be closer to his daughter and twin granddaughters.
Willis had a larger-than-life personality. He made lifelong, loyal friends everywhere he went. He was strong, funny, and outspoken. He was an avid golfer and a lover of music. Nothing made Willis happier than washing his cars or vacuuming his house.
Those left to cherish Willis’s memory include his wife Ann, his daughter Julie Moad (Louisville), son-in-law Jeff Moad, granddaughters Isabel and Zoe Moad, mother Barb (Wolf) Lawton (Davenport), brother Jim Lawton (Davenport), sister Wilma Tilton (Williamsburg, VA), brother and sister-in-laws Tom and Liz McDermott (LeClaire, IA), Mike and Jill McDermott (Spring Green, WI), Patty and Dennis McGrath (St. Paul, MN), Peggy and Mike Ball (Davenport), and Mercedes Rosing (Davenport), and numerous nieces and nephews. His father, Willis S. Rosing, and brother, Michael Rosing, preceded him in death. May they rest in peace.
A memorial visitation to celebrate Willis’s life will be held from 2:00–5:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 21, 2020, at Arch L. Heady & Son, at Westport Village, 7410 Westport Road, Louisville, KY.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cure PSP (www.psp.org) or Hosparus (www.hosparushealth.org). Willis’s family extends sincere thanks to Hosparus of Louisville for the compassionate care and support provided.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.8.18