William “Bill” Rose, 72, of Oceanside, California, passed away on December 22, 2023, following a brief illness. He grew up in Butler, attending Butler High School, graduating in 1969. Bill was an outstanding distance runner, establishing a number of records, as well as winning the WPIAL Cross Country Championships his Senior Year. He received a full scholarship for Track & Cross Country and attended McCook Junior College in Nebraska. After two years, he entered the U.S. Air Force where he served for 10 years. When he left the Air Force, Bill started his career with IBM.
Bill led technical support departments at esteemed companies like IBM, Hitachi, and Candle. In the 1990’s, he founded the Software Support Professionals Association (SSPA), a community organization that represented over 2,700 support centers worldwide including Microsoft, IBM, and Computerworld. Before retiring he earned an MBA in Management Information Systems to share his knowledge as a professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus and the University of Arizona.
Bill is survived by his wife, Dorcy Rose; twin daughters, Angela Childress and Jessica Ford; son, Michael; son-in-law Eddy Ford; mother-in-law, Barbara Bowman and sister-in-law, Laure Bowman and a number of nieces, nephews, and grand children. Other survivors include his brother Robert Rose and his wife Melanie, sisters Kat Morrell and Deborah Rose.
A celebration of Bill’s life will be held Monday, January 29, 2024 at Eternal Hills Memorial Park, 1999 El Camino Real, Oceanside, CA 92054.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to: Bill Rose Slippery Rock University Scholarship for Distance Runners. Checks payable to: SRU Foundation with “Bill Rose Scholarship for Distance Runners” in the memo section and sent to: Slippery Rock University, SRU Foundation, 104 Maltby Ave., Suite 202, Slippery Rock, PA 16057.