William Forest Rose Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

William Forest (Billy) Rose, 78, died Friday, October 14, 2016, from complications of Parkinson's disease. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jerlene Bellamy Rose, of Clay City; a daughter, Leigh Michele Rose of Berea; two brothers, Jerry Rose and Jackie (Elouise) Rose; a nephew, Barry L. (Debbie) Rose, and great-nephew, Kelby Rose, all of Clay City; and two step-grandchildren, Marisa and Garrett Broadnax, Columbia, SC. Besides his parents, Margaret (Newkirk) and Forest Livingston Rose, he was preceded in death by a nephew, Scott Rose, and sister-in-law, Jewell Rose. Billy was born March 27, 1938, at his grandmother Pearl Newkirk's home in Stanton, KY, but was a lifelong resident of Clay City where he was active in community affairs. He was a graduate of Powell County High School, received his Bachelor of Science degree from University of Kentucky (1961) and Master’s Degree in Education from Eastern Kentucky University. He was a retired educator with 48 years of service with the Powell County Board of Education. He served as a teacher at Stanton and Clay City Elementary schools, and Powell County High School; principal at Clay City Elementary, Powell County High School, and at Powell County Middle School. He also served as Director of Federal Programs and interim Superintendent. He was named Outstanding Young Educator by the Powell County Jaycees early in his career. After 35 years with the Powell County School system, he retired, but was asked to design a drop-out prevention program. He designed an Alternative Education program that was touted as a model statewide, and served another 13 years as director and principal of the program. Wanting a community that was safe and a good place to live and raise a family, he backed it up with service. He served eight years as Clay City's volunteer clerk/treasurer. He helped organize the Clay City Volunteer Fire Department and was a firefighter for many years. He was a member of the Clay City Lions Club for over 50 years; a member of the Powell County Sportsman's Club, Pioneer Archery Club, Red River Historical Society, Powell County Retired Teachers Association, and the Clay City United Methodist Church. His community service included membership in the Powell County P.R.I.D.E Committee, Powell County Boy Scout Council, Madison County Civil War Roundtable, Powell County Kiwanis Club, Powell County 4-H Council, and Powell County Agriculture Board Advisory Council. He was a member of the Clay City Recreation Board and Powell County Industrial Development Authority. Billy loved sports. He was assistant coach of the Powell County High Baseball Pirates. He helped organize Powell County Little League and coached a Clay City team. He also played on a men's team, and helped organize the semi-pro Central Kentucky League. Jerlene joked that they had to plan their wedding around the baseball schedule. They really did. They married on a Sunday afternoon, August 20, 1961, at Stanton Christian Church. He loved movies and from the time he was in grade school, he went every time the door was open. The Clay City movie house was in an old wood building with a potbellied stove in the center. The seats were tall in the back and short in the front, so depending on where you sat, your feet either dangled or your chin was on your knees. As teens, he and his brother Jerry put a floor in their parents’ attic and turned it into an upstairs play room. They had shuffleboard on the floor and one end had a huge table with tracks to run Billy's Lionel trains. He and friend Hunter Irvine built a tree house. Billy saw a drilling rig and, using scrap metals from his dad's garage, built a large one. He was trying it out behind the old Mountz bus stop restaurant building and drilled through a water line. Growing up in Clay City, Billy and his buddies (Lloyd and Bill Cress, Larry Meadows, Arthur Pelfrey, Ralph Patrick, Shirley Briscoe, Jim Potts, Junior Disponette, to name a few) were members of Clay City Boy Scout Troop 96, with John Pelfrey or Edsel Mountz as Scoutmasters. They hiked many miles and marched in countless parades, including the January 1955 inaugural parade for Gov. Happy Chandler in Frankfort. Billy later became Scoutmaster. He and Jerlene were well chaperoned on their dates, as they always had a carload of little boys with them, either Little Leaguers or Boy Scouts, taking them on outings — roller skating at Bethel, swimming in Indian Creek in the Red River Gorge, the drive-in theater, and to the Kentucky State Fair. His first job for the Board of Education was as his father's assistant bus mechanic. Billy spent a lot of time that summer running to Winchester or Mt. Sterling for parts, a dream job for a kid with a new driver's license. Billy also worked with his dad in his garage. He and his dad went on many a trip to outlying farms to work on tractors and farm machinery. Another and perhaps a more "fun" job was running the bath house at the pool at Natural Bridge State Park, where he and his co-workers nearly got in trouble for renting swimsuits people had left behind, a practice that was forbidden by the Park. Fresh out of high school, he and his brother Jerry bought the Ashland service station on Hwy 15 in Clay City; that helped finance his college education. It was a true "service" station, where Billy and Jerry pumped the gas for you, checked your oil, washed your windshield and if necessary, fixed your flat tire. Billy enjoyed telling stories of the local characters who hung out at the station, playing cards and jokes on each other. Billy's first teaching job was as science teacher at Stanton Elementary. His first Principal's position was at Clay City Elementary, where he had begun his own education in first grade with his grandmother Pearl Newkirk as his teacher. The Clay City school building was completed in 1941 through the WPA (Works Progress Administration). By the early 1960s the building was in bad shape. He said when it rained, the cooks wore galoshes in the water-logged basement kitchen. And the maintenance man took some extraordinary measures to keep the old furnace boiler going to take the chill off in winter. Air conditioning in the old three-story building meant "open the windows." Toilets were at the end of a path out back. When a new Middle School was to be built, Billy worked with the architects and teachers to determine the best layout for the building while accommodating the teachers' needs. Throughout his career, Billy was supportive of his teachers, a fair but firm employer and principal, and first and foremost, treated everyone with respect, teachers, parents, and especially the students. In turn, he was loved and respected by his fellow educators and his students, even the ones he had to paddle. He ran a tight ship. Students did not run in the halls; they walked quietly from class to class, and were quiet and respectful of speakers during assembly programs. The common practice in those days was to have local pastors have a monthly program. At one such program at the Middle School, a pastor known for his "fire and brimstone" preaching style was due to speak, and Principal Rose warned the students of the "no talking" rule during assembly. Monitoring the program, Billy saw one little boy sitting way up in the bleachers with his mouth in constant motion. As the students filed out of the gym past him, he grabbed him by the collar and said, "In my office." When he met the young man in his office, he said, "What did I tell you about not talking during the program?" The boy said, "Oh, Mr. Rose, I wasn't talking, I was praying." To which Billy replied, "Well, you weren't praying hard enough. Bend over." Billy helped so many students graduate who would not have without the extra help provided by the Alternative Education program. Despite his strict, no-nonsense rules, he showed kindness and compassion when needed. One young man had a family emergency and missed several days. He came back to school without a re-entry pass and was turned away by another administrator who was unaware of the situation. Billy saw him leaving the building and asked where he was going. He was "dropping out," he said. Billy said, "No, you are not. Go to class. I'll take care of it." The boy stayed in school and graduated. Another student had a habit of staying in bed after his mother left for work. Billy took his Student Counselor with him, went to his house and yanked him out of bed and said, "Get dressed. You're going to school." More than a few times he picked up kids or took them home in order to keep them in school when the parents either couldn't or wouldn't. He found clothes and shoes and coats for kids who didn't have them. Sometimes, he and the teachers would chip in and buy what was needed. The lives he touched in a positive way are countless. In the last few years after he retired, every time he and Jerlene went anywhere -- to a ball game, or out to eat, one of his former students would come by and say, “Do you remember me, Mr. Rose?" He remembered them all. One young fellow who had been a frequent visitor to the office asked, “Do you remember me?” and Billy said with a grin, “I'm not sure. Turn around and bend over.” All those former students who came by would say “Thank you" and tell him how much they appreciated his help while they were in school. Frequently, they would add, "You straightened me out. I turned out OK." And that was his goal -- to have his kids turn out OK. Visitation: 6:00 PM Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Powell County Middle School gym and Thursday, from 11:00 AM till time of service. Funeral service 1:00 PM Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Powell County Middle School gym, with Pastor Kim Rose officiating. Pallbearers are Barry Rose, Bill Cress, Tim Abner, Kenny Rice, Steve Hale, Glen Creech, Larry Meadows, and Beazel Hall. Honorary bearers: Lloyd Cress, Hunter Irvine, Bill Spencer, Cebert Gilbert, John Townsend, Goat Rice, members of the Clay City Lions Club and Clay City Boy Scouts. Memorial gifts are suggested to the Red River Historical Society Museum, PO Box 517, Clay City KY 40312; Clay City Lions Club, PO Box 725, Clay City KY 40312; PCHS Alumni Scholarship Fund, PO Box 1469, Stanton KY 40380, or Clay City United Methodist Church, PO Box 378, Clay City, KY 40312. Davis & Davis Funeral Home, Stanton, is in charge of arrangements.

William Forest Rose

March 27, 1938 - October 14, 2016