Obituary of William J. Roos

William Joseph Roos died at home in Honesdale on May 9, 2015. He was 94. Roos was born to Josephine Katz Roos and Israel (Isadore) Roos in Baltimore's Hebrew (now Sinai) Hospital on April 7, 1921. He and his sister, Edna Roos Lewis, who predeceased him, spent their early years in Pittsburgh, where their father was a traveling salesman for the Auerbach Candy Company. Before the Great Depression, the family relocated to Josephine's ancestral home in Honesdale, where Isadore joined his father-in-law, W. Jonas Katz, and his wife's uncle, Leon Katz, in business at Katz Brothers Department Store. Roos graduated from Honesdale High School in 1938 and spent a post-graduate year at Franklin Day School in Baltimore before entering college at Bucknell University. He interrupted his studies to enlist in the Army in 1942. During his years in the Army, Roos served in the Signal Corp at Camp Crowder, Missouri. He was also assigned to the Cypher School at Camp Dodge, Iowa and was later based at Camp Florence, Arizona where he served as an interpreter at a German Prisoner of War Camp. After his discharge from the Army, Roos resumed his studies at Bucknell and graduated with a B.S. in 1947. He then joined his father, uncle, and brother-in-law, Nathan Lewis, in the family business, from which he retired as President when Katz Brothers was sold in 1987. In 1951, he married the former Paula Molla Sparrow, who survives him. Roos was a member and past president emeritus of the Congregation Beth Israel, and served on the boards of the Wayne County Public Library and the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of the Creamton Fishing Club. In addition to his wife, Roos is survived by his three children, Liza Lucy of New Hope, Pennsylvania, Sigmund Roos of Concord, Massachusetts, and Joel Roos of San Francisco, along with his son-in-law William Andrew Lucy, daughters-in-law Ruth E. Rohde and Laurie B. Isenberg, and six grandchildren, Alexandra G. Lucy, Elizabeth Lucy, Eleanor A. Roos, David T. Roos, Hannah G. Roos, and William S. Roos. He also leaves his caregivers, Sabine Sanders and Ella May Marion, both of Honesdale. Those wishing to make a gift in Roos's memory are asked to consider Congregation Beth Israel, 615 Court Street, The Wayne County Public Library, 1406 North Main Street, or The Wayne Memorial Hospice, 601 Park Street, all of Honesdale, PA 18431. A Memorial Service will be held at Congregation Beth Israel at 2:00 pm on Friday, May 15, 2015, and the family will receive visitors wishing to pay their respects at the Synagogue from 12:30 until 2:00 on Friday and from noon until 3:00 pm on Saturday at home. .