Longtime city attorney Donald Rose helped shape Rolling Meadows
Donald M. Rose is why Rolling Meadows looks the way it does today.
He was never a mayor or an alderman, but as city attorney for 44 years - in a city that is only six decades old - Rose had a hand in nearly every important decision that expanded or governed Rolling Meadows.
Rose died Wednesday at the age of 85.
His daughter Laura Herber said he carried his love of Rolling Meadows through his whole life.
"It was where he raised his kids, it's where we all went to school, it's where he went to church. It was home for him," Herber said.
Rose filled many roles in the early days of Rolling Meadows, like when the city didn't have a treasurer but needed a bond issue for sewer repair. Or when officials wanted to move from a volunteer fire department to a full-time one and needed someone to manage the change.
Appointed city attorney in 1961, Rose managed annexations of new property, oversaw negotiations for developments that brought retailers like Wal-Mart and Meijer to town, helped draft the city's earliest laws, and then modernized them decades later.
Aside from his love of law, sports played an important role in Rose's life. He led Tilden Technical High School in Chicago to the city basketball championship in 1949 and accepted a scholarship to play for legendary coach Ray Meyer at DePaul University in the early 1950s.
After graduating, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps for three years before returning to DePaul for law school. He remained invested in the school for many years and in 1971 became chairman of its athletic board.
He also played an active role in lobbying Northwest Suburban High School District 214 to build Rolling Meadows High School and was the first president of the school's athletic booster club.
"He had a truly wonderful life. He was all about family, friends and he just loved to experience things," Herber said, adding that her father, a licensed pilot, enjoyed reading, fishing and traveling. "He did everything he set out to do."
Rose retired in 2006 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Otherwise, Herber said, he probably would have continued working.
Rose is survived by his wife of 40 years, Mary, his children Linda (Ray) Herber, Donna Rose, Robert (Teresa) Rose and James (Deborah) Rose; seven grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, sisters, a brother and many nieces and nephews.
"A man of integrity and faith, he was deeply loved by his family and friends, and his passing leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled," his obituary reads.
Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Meadows Funeral Home, 3615 Kirchoff Road in Rolling Meadows. A funeral Mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Wayside Church, 434 W. Park St. in Arlington Heights. Memorials can be made to the U.S. Marine Corps.