Leonard Dexter Rosser's Obituary
LEONARD DEXTER ROSSER, D.B.A., age 90, of Germantown, TN, passed away June 5, 2013 at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis. He was born on May 18, 1923 in Belmont, MS, and a graduate of Belmont High School. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, serving in the Philippines and New Guinea. Upon returning from the war, he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting from The University of Mississippi, a master’s degree in business administration from The University of Memphis, and a doctorate in business administration from Mississippi State University. Dr. Rosser was a professor and an associate dean at The University of Memphis’s Fogelman College of Business and Economics from 1970 until 1993. While teaching at the university, he led the creation of a doctoral program for the Fogelman College of Business. He also wrote the program to revive the Tennessee Small Business Development Center and became the center’s first state director from 1983 until 1990, when he resumed his career as a tenured professor at the university until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 1993. He was a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason and a 50 year member of Al Chymia Shriners. After his retirement, he often drove children to the Galveston and Cincinnati Shriners Burns Hospital. He was a member of the Royal Order of Jesters Memphis Court 130. He was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church, most recently Germantown United Methodist Church. Those left to cherish his memory are his beloved wife of 65 years, Parthine (Pat) Rosser of Germantown, TN, and Belmont, MS; his daughter, Sharon Rosser Verheeck (Dr. Kenneth) of Lake Charles, LA; his son, Phillip L. Rosser (companion, Christy Atkins) of Cordova, TN; and five grandsons, Kenneth Verheeck, Jr. (wife, Aimee) of Houston, TX, Bradley Verheeck (wife, Amanda) of Baton Rouge, LA, Timothy Verheeck (wife, Julie) of Lake Charles, LA, Chad Rosser (wife, Melissa) of New Albany, MS and Hunter Rosser of Cordova, TN, and six great-grandchildren, Buster, Andrew, and Maddie Verheeck of Houston, TX, Anna and Owen Verheeck of Lake Charles, LA, and Frankie Rosser of New Albany, MS. Funeral services will be held at Memphis Memorial Park on Saturday, June 8. Visitation will be from 12:30-2 p.m., with funeral services to begin at 2:00 p.m. Reverend Julie McKenna and Reverend Ben Rosser will officiate. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Memorial Park Funeral Home, “Behind the stone wall”, 901-767-8930. Condolences may be offered at www.MemorialParkOnline.comFuneral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave. Memphis, TN 38119, (901)767-8930, “Behind the Stone Wall”.
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