BILL and SONIA ROSE
It starts on June 15, 1956. That’s the date that Bill Rose and Bob Staley joined the Air Force under the "buddy system". As they found out, that’s the Air Forces definition of staying together through basic training. They joined because they were tired of school, so the Air Force sent Bill to school for the next nine months. First to Cheyenne, WY for Teletype and then to St Louis, MO for Cryptography, were Bill also met a girl that would become his first wife.
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Bill and Sonia at Devils Tower WY |
After St Louis, it was on to Tachikawa AFB in Japan for two years, 1957 -58, where, by chance, Bill hooked up with David and Rosemary Gilbert. In 1959, Bill returned to the states, married the girl from St Louis, and was stationed at Moriarity AF Station in New Mexico.
After leaving the Air Force, and the desert of NM, Bill returned to St Louis, MO to seek work in the civilian world. Bill kicked around in the financial field a couple of years before landing a job with the Postal Service as a city letter carrier. In 1972 Bill advanced into management within the St Louis Postal Service. In 1978 Bill was selected as the Postmaster of Potosi, MO, a small town about 60 miles south of St Louis.
By this time, Bill had four sons, all in high school and one daughter in the 7th grade.
This move, out of St Louis, proved to be too much for the marriage and Bill was divorced in 1980.
In 1981, Bill was selected for the Postmaster position in Fulton, MO; a
small college town located about 25 miles from Columbia, MO. This
is where Bill met Sonia, his current wife of twenty-two years.
Bill retired from the Postal Service in 1995 and spent the next six
years driving tour buses and enjoying the United States. Sonia
retired from the Postal Service in 2000 and now, together, they enjoy
traveling and visiting their fourteen grandchildren, coast to coast.
Bill’s children: Mark; Commander, USCG, Virginia Beach, VA:
Bob; Asst Editor, St Louis Post Dispatch, St Louis, MO: Don;
Commander, USCG, Atlantic Beach, NC: Tom; Veterinarian, Columbia, MO: Diane;
Jr Hi School Teacher, Waukegan, IL: and Sonia’s son, Mike; T/Sgt, USAF,
Omaha NE.
Bill and Sonia enjoy motorcycling and are proud owners of a 2002 Honda
Goldwing, their fifth Goldwing in twenty years.
6-12-05