Douglas Martin Rose

Douglas M. Rose

Doug Rose, born on Sept. 29, 1941, to Marion and Leota (Reidmiller) Rose of Hartley, Iowa,passed away Dec. 9th, 2023.

He is survived by children, Chad Rose of Des Moines, Iowa, Kyle Rose of Bucksport, Maine, Kalli Miller of Spencer, Iowa, and Kirk Rose of Anchorage, Alaska, as well as siblings David Rose, Linda Vehrs, Sandy Kuntz and Pam Crosser.

Doug graduated from Spencer High School and was a lifelong Tiger at heart. Even in his old age, trophies from the boxing and marble exploits of his Spencer youth adorned his shelves.

After high school, he was honorably discharged from the Air Force Military Police where he was briefly stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska amongst other locales.

After his service, he returned to Spencer where he became a police officer and later was a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service from which he retired.

Doug loved being behind the wheel. He cruised the Spencer drag in many a muscle car including his beloved early edition Ford Mustang. Later, his golf cart became his Shelby Cobra and was driven a little too fast down the fairways. In his twilight, he terrorized the streets of town on his scooter and more than once found ways to gain the attention of the local police and worried citizens.

He loved sports and seemed to have a penchant for picking hard-luck losers like the Chicago Cubs and Bears to follow through life. The mostly lows made for a few memorable highs. Doug was an unmistakable Iowa Hawkeyes and Spencer Tigers fan and most days you could see him wearing his pride on a sweatshirt or hat.

Doug was an avid amateur sportsman and was a crack golfer and bowler. He frequented the many golf courses of the northwest Iowa region and loved assembling golf sets from the garage sales of the city. He always had a Tigers game on the radio or a football game on the television.

Doug considered himself a master chef. He certainly wore the apron well on many a Thanksgiving feast as well as spaghetti nights that his kids loved.  Christmas always brought his Hersheys Cocoa fudge, which had to be cooked to the exact perfect temperature or would be deemed a frustrating failure (many a pan was ruined).  When he could no longer cook, one of his best friends in the world became Little Debbie, although he never seemed to gain a pound from the many cakes and snacks.

Doug was a man of song and verse and he loved to recite the lyrics of songs of his youth like Hot Rod Lincoln as well as the poem Casey at Bat. He had a good voice and sang in the choir as well as singing at home for anyone who would listen.  He loved his record collection and several turntables.

After a stroke ten years ago, he lost the ability to speak. Many will remember long, sometimes hilarious, always exasperating games of charades with Doug as you tried to guess through unknowledgeable hand gestures and much noisemaking that he didn’t like the new pasta from the grocery store. Oh, the joy when the message finally got through and this game concluded.

We love you and will miss you!