Thomas LeRoy Rosebury, 76, of Mason, Michigan passed away April 12, 2019 surrounded by his family. He was born to and preceded in death by his parents Cecil and Helen Rosebury on April 11, 1943, in Lansing, Michigan. Tom is survived by his wife, Sharon Rosebury; children Wendy Rosebury (Kevin) Smith and Ricky (Oanh) Rosebury; sisters Janet (Bill) Rich and Beverly (Harold) Hemingway; sister-in-laws Lynette (Mike) Schultz and Debra (Bill) Barrett, and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends. He is preceded in death by his son David Rosebury, daughter Dawn Rosebury; brothers Richard Lloyd “Dickie” and Cecil James “Jimmy” Rosebury; and father and mother in-law Donald and Mildred Hoover.
Tom grew up in Aurelius Michigan with his parents, brothers, and sisters. He loved animals, horseback riding, and harassing his sisters that he loved dearly. He was a math tutor and a youth leader at the Aurelius Baptist Church.
In school, Tom was active in extracurricular activities such as Boy Scouts, 4-H, softball, acting in plays, student council, tap dancing, football and was elected home coming king his senior year. Tom loved boxing and was the Lansing District Golden Gloves novice flyweight champion in 1961. After graduation from Mason High School in 1961, Tom briefly attended Michigan State University before enlisting and graduating from the United States Marine Corp reserves.
While working at Dart Corporation in Mason, MI, Tom met his wife, Sharon in 1963 whom he has been married to for 55 years. He attended Lansing Community College while working at Demmer Corporation in Lansing where he did his apprenticeship and earned in his Tool and Die certificate in 1968. For many years, he worked for Cameron Tool Corporation in Lansing as a Tool and Die maker and Estimator/Purchaser in the Engineering department where he retired in 2000. During his career, he also took correspondence courses in conservation and Dale Carnegie.
Tom loved spending time with his family and sharing his love of the outdoors, nature, and animals. When his children were younger, his family always looked forward to the annual camping trips to Higgins Lake in the family van called the “doodle bug”. As adults, on most weekend days in the summer, a bonfire could always be found at his home. Rarely was there a time when the Rosebury family was not surrounded by a wide variety of pets. Tom raised many pets such dogs, cats, rabbits, fish, chickens, goats, cows, horses, mini-mules, and even a racoon. He also had a passion for birds. He built an amazing aviary that hosted many exotic birds including pheasants, peafowl, ducks, geese, turkeys, and homing/rolling pigeons. Tom and Sharon enjoyed helping their children exhibiting many of these pets at the fair through 4-H.
Toms hands were rarely idle and was always tinkering, building, or refurbishing some project. He dug his own pond with and island and meticulously groomed the woods at his home that holds many fond memories including a wedding setting. During the Christmas season, he would light up the woods with thousands of lights and decorations. He renovated a sleigh, working manure spreader, and mule wagon that he drove in town parades. Tom prided himself on the many compliments he received on an upright piano he rescued from the junkyard. He tore it down to the bones and rebuilt it and jazzed it up with black lights and fluorescent paint on the hammers and strings and served his family and friends with many decades of cherished memories. If you knew Tom, you knew his passion for music. From a very young boy until his death, Tom was always playing an instrument and singing a song. He particularly loved gospel, country, oldies, and novelty songs. His favorite artist was Johnny Cash. He played the piano, banjo, guitar, and harmonica, some of them at the same time seated at his precious piano. His playlists will never be forgotten by his family.
Throughout his life, Tom had so many hobbies and interests and wore many hats, literally, he always wore hats. He loved hunting, snowmobiling, motorcycle riding, gardening, John Deere, and the MSU Spartans. Tom spent many years extensively researching and documenting his family’s ancestry and genealogy and created a very comprehensive family tree. Tom also a local area history buff.
Tom was small in stature but mighty in soul. He was a two-time cancer survivor and fought many other battles with his golden-glove fortitude, but lost his final bout against an unexpected opponent. Tom will always be remembered for his unconditional love, his mischievous smile, and crazy sense of humor. His family and friends always knew that when life got too hard, they always had a campfire to come sit around and “Let the Rest of The World Go By”….. one of his mother’s favorite song.
In honoring Tom’s wishes, cremation has taken place. A celebration of life will be held on Friday April 26, 2019 at the Eden United Brethren Church located at 1938 Eden Road, Mason MI. Visitation is from 11am to 12pm. The memorial service officiated by Pastor Dan Bentz will begin at 12pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Eden United Brethren Church of Mason in supporting their ministries.
The family is being served by Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes in Mason.
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