Obituaries : Robert Rose; Music Educator

A memorial service will be held today for Robert Rose, a music teacher and band director at John Burroughs High School in Burbank for more than three decades.

Rose was 70 when he died Nov. 30 at a Wixom, Mich., convalescent home, said his former student Stan Lynch of Burbank. Lynch said Rose had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years.

Rose received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and education from Wayne State University in his native Detroit, Lynch said. After serving in the Army during World War II, Rose moved to California with his wife.

He began his career in education as a music teacher at Lompoc High School during the late 1940s. In 1952, he joined Burroughs High, where he taught music and directed the school’s orchestra, concert band and dance band.

Although he specialized in woodwind instruments, “he played just about everything,” Lynch recalled Friday. “He was a good teacher.”

He retired from the school in 1984 and returned to Detroit.

The memorial service will begin at 4 p.m. in Burroughs’ auditorium at 1920 Clark St., Burbank. Many of Rose’s former students are scheduled to speak, including Burbank City Councilman Robert Bowne and Burbank Board of Education member Elena Hubbell.

The funeral was held in Michigan, and Rose was buried at Grand Lawn Cemetery in Detroit. He is survived by his wife, Rosa Marie.

Memorial donations may be may to a fund in Rose’s name in care of the high school at 1920 Clark St., Burbank 91506. Proceeds will be used for scholarships in instrumental music and a plaque in Rose’s memory.