Rose A. Blackwell

Rose A. Blackwell, age 80, passed away on Thursday, July 30, 2020.

Rose was born in Pecatonica, IL and was the youngest daughter of Oscar and Mary (Boyer) Johnson. She married DeWayne Blackwell in 1960 in Rockford, IL. Rose met DeWayne when she was working at Dog ‘n Suds in Rockford. DeWayne said he had to meet the pretty girl with the nice car! They enjoyed many dates together at Steak ‘n Shake, Taco Bell, Beef-A-Roo, and Culver’s. Rose worked for a number of years at National Lock and later spent 40 + years with Warner Lambert, until her retirement. She enjoyed hobbies including roller-skating in her younger years and oil painting. While Rose never had the opportunity to travel in her earlier years, after retiring, Rose and DeWayne had motor homes and traveled every chance they got. They loved visiting family and seeing different areas of the U.S. After DeWayne passed away August 19, 2017, Rose’s health prohibited her from traveling, so her greatest joy became spending time with her family and seeing pictures of her Grandkids’ many adventures. She also enjoyed reading and doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles. Rose was a kind soul with a strong work ethic and great sense of humor even to the end. She will be dearly missed.

Surviving relatives include her loving children: Wayne (Debra Sanson) Blackwell, Shari (Santo) Scordato and Terri (Scot) Lightbody; talented grandchildren, Nikki (Roger) Corey, Zachary (Tiffani) Blackwell, Kelly Morrison, Nathen Burks, Gabriel and Lauren Lightbody; 10 beautiful great-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews and cousins, and her wonderful friends at Anthology of Wheaton, IL. Rose is predeceased by her parents, husband, her sister Mary Severing, brothers Elmer and Walter Johnson and granddaughters, Sheena Burks and Danielle Lightbody.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 8, 2020 at Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory, 3910 N. Rockton Ave. Rockford, IL 61103 with a walk-through visitation from 12:00 p.m. until time of service. Those attending services are required to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. Final resting will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Machesney Park, IL. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The SM & SF Club ‘Kick-in-for-Cancer’ fund, 1010 Sandy Hallow Road, Rockford, IL 61109 or The Wheaton Lions Club Charities, PO Box 296 Wheaton, IL 60187.

Arrangements entrusted to Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory. Share online memories and condolences at www.fitzgeraldfh.com