By Richard M. Cesario

During the hard times of the depression years, Rosie earned a living as a carpenter and roofer while working for the WPA (Works Progress Administration). It was through the WPA that he got a job instructing in music at Fort Whipple. In 1933-34, he worked with the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) as a tree skinner, climbing trees and cutting out the blight. In 1936, he was employed in the TB ward at Fort Whipple Hospital.

With the outbreak of WWII, Rosie was assigned to Ft. Huachuca as a carpenter to build barracks. Then he was relocated to the Army Air Corp base in Tucson to build housing. He then joined the Army Engineers and was sent to the gunnery school at Kingman, AZ. With the advance of the war effort in Europe, Rosie was drafted into the Army and was assigned as an instructor for the bugle corps in Riverside, California.

Rosie was later transferred to the 8th Air Force and sent to England where a band was being formed to replace the Glen Miller Band after Glen was lost over the English Channel in December of 1944. Rosie was playing at the Royal Air Force Officers Club in Bushy Park in 1945, a suburb of London, and it was there that Allied Supreme Commander General Dwight Eisenhower heard him play. The General was so moved that he requested Rosie be assigned as his personal trumpeter, playing revelry and retreat at Allied Supreme Headquarters. He rode his bicycle 10 miles each way from his barracks to headquarters twice a day, playing revelry in the early morning and taps each night under Eisenhower’s window.

Returning to Prescott after the War, Rosie joined the American Legion and began playing in bands around town. He began his long engagement at the Pine Cone Inn Supper Club in 1949 continuing through 1967 and again from 1988 to 2008. He met his true love, Mary, on Whiskey Row in the late 1940s. She was the owner of a small restaurant called the Home Cafe located on S. Montezuma Street. Rosie would dine there often and they became close friends. They shared a mutual interest in donating time and working with the returning vets at Fort Whipple. Mary’s husband died and she sold the Cafe and opened the Panorama Restaurant on East Gurley Street. Rosie came to the restaurant for dinner one evening to find Mary crying. He told her he was coming back the next night to take her dancing and have some fun. He began courting her, proposing in the spring of 1959 and they married that November.

They moved in 1967 to Bullhead City where they operated an antique store and played music for the next 17 years. By 1988, Mary and Rosie had returned to the Prescott area and settled in Mayer where Mary opened an antique store on Main Street. Mary died on August 18, 2004 at age 94.

In his nineties, Rosie survived a fire that severely burned his face and hands. With courage and determination, this lifelong musician underwent surgeries and months of physical therapy, eventually practicing with the mouthpiece of his trumpet as he lay in his hospital bed, determined to play again.

At age 100, in 2006, Rosie was chosen, along with four other centenarians, to do a commercial for Genworth Financial. This created interest for the TV hostess, Barbara Walters and, at 101, Rosie made a trip to New York City to interview on ABC TV with Barbara Walters. While in NYC, Rosie enjoyed a carriage ride around Central Park and also bought a new "gold" trumpet at a music store across the street from Lincoln Center. He never did like that trumpet and preferred his old one!

He belonged to many fraternal organizations over the years to which he gave his time and money for causes that he cherished. He was active in the American Legion Honor Guard, Shriners, Elks and VFW. He provided for the Music Scholarship at Prescott High School and many other charitable causes around town. He was responsible for the new uniforms now worn by the American Legion and was himself a dedicated member for over 60 yrs.

In 2006, President Bush presented him with a certificate for the oldest worker in the USA. During this same period, the VA rewarded Rosie by naming him the Grand Marshal of the Memorial Day Parade at the Prescott facility. He was featured in 2008 as the world’s oldest active member in Bugles across America, an organization which supplies a bugler, upon request, for veteran-related activities, including funerals, in all 50 states. Rosie worked at Fort Whipple beginning in 1936 in the TB ward, mopping and cleaning. He soon became a recreation counselor and was responsible for taking the vets on field trips or fishing excursions and would play songs and entertain them to cheer them. Besides his work, he volunteered many years in varying capacities. Rosie played Taps at the services for most of the veterans in Prescott National Cemetery beginning in 1936. He had dedicated his life to improving conditions and entertaining veterans at the VA Hospital. In his lifetime, Rosie acquired a total of 7,888 hours of service for veterans.

Rosie is remembered for his music, his forever smile and twinkle in his eye. He leaves us a century of wonderful memories and is missed by all who ever knew him.

(Richard M. Cesario lives in Prescott and is the Korean War Veterans Color Guard Captain.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(Courtesy photo, American Legion) Reuse only by permission.

Rosie playing Taps at the funeral of a veteran in Prescott’s National Cemetery in an undated photo. He began his service to veterans in this manner in 1936 and has played Taps at most of the veteran services at the cemetery since that time.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(Courtesy photo, American Legion) Reuse only by permission.

Rosie, at 101, playing for the Memorial Day service at the VA Medical Center, 2007.