TORRINGTON – Funeral services for Rosalie Anne Eaton, 95, will be 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, 2019, at the Colyer Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in the Valley View Cemetery.
Rosalie went to be with her childhood family of 12 on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, following a short illness. She was the last of her 12 siblings. Memorials may be given to St Joseph Children’s Home.
Visitation will be Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. and the casket will be open briefly following the service.
Arrangements are by the Colyer Funeral Home and condolences may be sent to www.colyerfuneralhome.com.
Rosalie was the youngest of 12 children, born May 12, 1924, to Nick and Veronica (Tomasciewska) Klopatek near Steven’s Point (Palonia), Wisc. An active high school student, she played catcher for her softball team, served as a drum majorette and graduated with high marks from PJ Jacobs High School in Wisconsin. Her sense of adventure began the groundwork for her later talents in serving in community settings as an avid piano player and singer. She loved piano, singing, flower gardening and taking day-long road trips with her friends throughout her life.
Setting off for the big city after graduation, she took a position as a clerk typist for Allstate Insurance in Chicago, Ill., before she met her future husband, Daniel Rock, who was serving in the USAF as a bombardier trainee before deployment during World War II. The couple relocated to Big Springs, Texas, where he completed his military training while she worked in the base office as a clerk/typist. Following the end of Daniel’s active service and near the end of the war, the couple married on March 3, 1945, and moved to Norden, Neb., to take up agriculture and hospital work. Within their union the couple had five children.
Years later, following her husband’s death, Rosalie resided in Torrington. In December 1976, Rosalie married Melvin Eaton. The family increased to 10 children through the marriage and she resided in Veteran and Torrington for the remainder of her life, raising her children and stepchildren to adulthood.
In 1969, Rosalie received her Accredited Record Technologist Certification and served the local hospital as a Medical Records Technician, having already received training in X-ray management and hospital support throughout her career. She maintained that position until the mid-1980’s, when she retired to assist her husband with the family ranch in Veteran in Goshen County.
The couple returned to live in Torrington in 1989 where they have resided since, celebrating the births of 18 grandchildren in their blended family, and several great-grandchildren.
Rosalie was preceded in death by her first husband, Daniel Rock, and her eldest son, Patrick Rock. She is survived by her husband Melvin Eaton, six daughters and three sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
