Eugene H. Roos

Roos, Eugene H.,

92, of Louisville, died Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at the Forum at Brookside, his home for the last six years of a life well lived. Born in Rockford, IL, on October 18, 1922, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II and earned his wings as a patrol bomber co-pilot. Awaiting deployment to the Pacific Theater in August 1945, he and future generations of Rooses might have been spared by the advent of the atomic bomb.

Gene serendipitously met the love of his life, Rockford College sophomore Joyce Marsh, on April 30, 1943, while home on leave, and their love blossomed largely through V-mail over the next 20 months, culminating on Dec. 23, 1944, in a storybook marriage that lasted nearly 71 years.

Gene was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Alfild Roos; and sisters, Mary Lou Stewart and Carol O'Brien.

In addition to his beloved wife, he is survived by daughter, Libby Kendrick (Paul) of Stokesdale, NC; son, David (Kathleen) of Louisville; grandson, Tom Kendrick (Allyson); granddaughters, Laura Kendrick, Emily Ragan (Josh) and Mary Roos; and great-grandchildren, Isabella Ragan, Sam Kendrick and Layla Oliver.

Educated at the University of Illinois, Miami of Ohio and the University of Wisconsin, Gene was a manufacturer's representative for several corporations - he jokingly called himself a "screw peddler" -- and was a fixture himself at General Electric, his primary account for decades after moving to Louisville in 1954. He and Joyce soon fell in love with St. Paul United Methodist Church (the LOA class in particular) and University of Louisville sports, holding basketball and football season tickets since the mid-1960s. They attended the 1980 and 1986 NCAA championship games, the Fiesta Bowl win over Alabama and countless other tournaments and bowls.

Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Friday in the Family Life Center of St. Paul United Methodist Church, 2000 Douglass Blvd. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in the church.

The family wishes to express its gratitude for the care given to Gene in his final weeks by the medical staffs at Baptist Hospital East, the Forum and Hosparus of Louisville. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Memorials Committee at St. Paul United Methodist Church.