Rose, William (“Bill”)

Son of Frank and Clara. He was born on June 5, 1941 in Jerusalem, and at the age of three his parents moved to Plymouth, England, where he studied at the St. Boniface High School and later in a professional high school with an electronics track. From the very beginning of his youth, in fact, his own hobby was to build a private laboratory in his home and to assemble various electronic systems at the end of his studies, enlisted in the British Air Force and served as an aircraft carrier with the rank of sergeant. And studied Hebrew in 1965. He joined the IDF in 1965 and was assigned to the Engineering Corps. At that time he met his future wife, Yael. The couple married and settled in Be’er Sheva, where their two children, Tamar and Mati, were born one year apart. William received work in the air industry in his hometown, Beer Sheva, as chief electrician in the maintenance department. He had progressed well in his work, to the satisfaction of his superiors, who were impressed by his excellent workmanship and competence. He was pleasant and gentle, and had a special talent for listening to others, especially the older ones. These qualities he liked about his friends and colleagues. He liked to spend his leisure time indoors, in the lap of his family, or diligently with his books on electricity and electronics, which he used to purchase at any opportunity, hoping that his son would follow his path and later find interest in the books in his library closet. In the last few years, after the children were born, he devoted himself to another hobby – photography. He liked to photograph his children, and he filmed the artistic photographs with his own hands and filled them with thick albums. The service in the reserves was a pleasant experience for William and always came back full of exciting stories. On the 18th of Tammuz 5738 (23.7.1988) he fell in the line of duty during reserve service. Was brought to rest in the military section of the cemetery in Be’er Sheva. He was 37 when he died. He left behind a wife, daughter and son, mother and sister (in England). In a letter of consolation to the widow, his commander wrote: “Who among you, as a wife who lived with him for a long time, knows how great the loss of a precious, loving and dedicated soul is, as was your husband William, who was always the first to offer help to his comrades in the unit and everywhere” “The commander wrote to the bereaved mother:” We met him in the unit as a straight guy, devoted to his job and his friends, and he is ready to fulfill any task at any time. May he gather the strength to take comfort in the fact that for the sake of his people and in the course of fulfilling his duties he fell. In this way you join the list of Jewish women heroines and anonymity, who sacrificed their sons on the altar of the people and the land. “