1950 – 2021
Rose M. Derks, 71, of Eau Claire died Thursday, November 4th, 2021, at Mayo Clinic Health Systems-Eau Claire. She was born May 17th, 1950, to the late Edward and Henrietta (Rubenzer) Oemig. Rose grew up in the area and attended Stanley-Boyd High School, graduating in 1968. On February 17th, 1968, she married the love of her life Gerald J. Derks.
Rose spent her life devoted to her husband and keeping her children inline while helping to care for their needs working many jobs. One of her first jobs was as a bartender at Paten’s Bar where her mother was working. Years later she found employment at Stanley Case Works while taking night classes at CVTC, leading to her employment at ADM running the office where her dad had worked years earlier when it was Falls Dairy. Rose retired from ADM in 2015 with the onset of her heart disease. She loved sewing blankets, mending clothes, playing cards, watching live music, and attending graduations and wedding dances for everyone she knew. She was the glue that held the family together. Rose always remembered her family by sending birthday cards for her 4 children and her 9 grandchildren.
She is survived by her children, Reginald (Dawn) of Clam Lake, Roger (Lisa), of Eau Claire, Rita (Matthew Luke) of Chippewa Falls, and Rollin (Eileen) of Wexford, Pennsylvania. Rose is further survived by her grandchildren, Miranda, Maria, Mataya, Rianna, Ruby, Jenna, Anthony, Tyler, and April, as well as her sister Kathy (Les) McCann, of Jacksonville, Florida. Rose is preceded in death by her husband Gerald (2019), her parents, and her sister Bernadine Oemig.
A memorial service will be held at 11AM on Thursday, November 11, 2021, at the Plombon Funeral Home in Stanley. Rev. Mike Larabee will officiate. Visitation will take place from 10AM until time of service. Inurnment will take place at the Cornell Cemetery at a later date.
