Dad's memorial service

Today we said good bye to dad, it was a celebration of his life here on earth. The service was held in Ventura with many family and friends in attendence. The Navy was there to present the flag to my brother, Rich, and the CHP was there to present me with the California Flag. A very nice pastor gave a talk about our dad, then I spoke, then Rich, his wife Dawn, dad's CHP motor partner, Dave Rees, and two of Rich's friends. There was a reception later at Rich and Dawn's home, and it was very nice. The following is the talk I shared:

Our dad passed away after a 2 year battle with throat cancer. We were with him when he peacefully left this world. Dad is in a better place now. I believe he was welcomed home with open arms by his mom, dad, brother and grandparents. He will be greatly missed by those he left behind, but I believe in life after death and I know I will see him again.
I had a great childhood with fond memories. My dad and mom were kind and loving and always there for me. Some things I remember doing with my dad as a litter girl were; going on long motorcycle rides to the beach or mountains, where mom gave dad specific instructions to call if he were going to later than he said, or she would assume we were in a crash and she would call the police, he did call her if we were late. Also going golfing and being his caddy, my favorite thing to do was wash the golf balls in the little washing machines that were on the course. Going to the beach while dad scuba dived, and going with him to clean pools and swimming in the pools after they were clean.
Dad had this thing for cars and we never knew what kind of car he would come home in. I think we had every kind of car there was.
One thing I remember in my teen years, while dating my husband John, it seemed like I was always grounded for one thing or another. John worked at 31 flavors ice cream, and that was the one thing dad loved. So in order to see John, I would entice dad to have John stop by after work and bring him his favorite ice cream. It always worked.
When John and I were engaged, we were planning our wedding and dad would try to get us to elope and take the money instead of putting it toward a wedding. He even told us he would supply the ladder; mind you we had a one story.
In 1974, our first son, Jeff, was born and 5 months later, dad had his first son with his wife Jackie. Due to complications with Jackie’s delivery, I brought my new little brother, Rich, home from the hospital. Well, having a 5 month old and a new born were very challenging to say the least. And after a few weeks, I called dad and told him he had to take over.
Dad had many jobs until 1957, when he became a police officer for Covina PD.
In 1961, he then joined the CHP and rode motors. He retired in 1981 on a medical from the gun shot he received in 1968.
Dad has been there, done that, and had an interesting life. He was open to many new and interesting ways to enrich his life.
During the later years, dad and I had our ups and downs. With his near death experience nearly 2 years ago, of which I am forever grateful to Rich for being there to actually save our dad’s life, dad did some soul searching and realized his family was important and we renewed our relationship. I am so grateful for the time we had together these past 2 years.
I loved my dad even when he was not so loveable at times, and I miss him and hope to see him one day with the rest of my family that has gone on ahead. RIP daddy.

Richard T. Rosin
1931 - 2008


Richard T. Rosin, 76, of Oak View, died Sunday, June 22, 2008, after a lengthy illness. He was born Dec. 26, 1931, in Gresham, Ore., and had been a resident of Ventura County for over 20 years.
Mr. Rosin served in the United States Navy during the Korean War and was awarded the United Nations Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He was a California Highway Patrol officer, retiring in 1981. He was an avid sailor and spent many hours on the ocean, having sailed from Mexico to California as well as traveling to many countries around the world. Among his many talents were model ship building and cooking, having been a chef in La Paz, Mexico, for several years.
He is survived by his son, Richard T. Rosin Jr., wife Dawn and their children, Zakary and Zoey, all of Oak View; daughter, Cynthia Kim Stokes, husband John and their children, Jeff Stokes, Marc Stokes, Sarah Toki and Amy Beesley of Rancho Cucamonga; and 15 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Vicki Gonzalez
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 28, at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, 3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura.