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She earned her nursing degree through the Mercy Hospital Nursing program at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Upon graduation, Shirley and four of her classmates decided to take an “adventure” and drove to Milwaukee to begin their nursing careers at the VA Hospital in Milwaukee. A colleague approached her about going to a movie on a blind date. Shirley and Glynn eventually married and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in December with family at their Arizona home.
Shirley and Glynn Rossa ’55:
a commitment to Catholic education Glynn Rossa ’55 became committed to Catholic education before he could drive a car. After graduating from Holy Assumption Elementary School in West Allis, Wis., and weighing his various options for high school, Rossa decided to attend Marquette High. However, this important decision came with the significant responsibility of paying for his own tuition, approximately $90 per semester at the time. As he reflects on his Marquette High experience, Rossa believes he made a wise investment. “I feel Marquette High did a lot for me as a person,” he says. Both he and his wife, Shirley, are products of and passionate advocates for Catholic education. They express an appreciation for the emphasis placed on morals, discipline, and for the commitment they have witnessed by the teachers. “I think you consistently find that in Catholic education,” says Glynn. Their confidence and belief in Catholic education has led the Rossas to be generous with their time and gifts to a number of Catholic institutions. “We’ve been blessed in many ways and I thought, why not support Marquette High and other Catholic schools in the hope that someone else may have the same result,” explains Glynn. While they attribute their successes in life, both personal and professional, to Catholic education, Glynn and
Shirley’s hard work has also been a contributing factor. Glynn began working when he was in elementary school, mowing lawns and attaining the coveted Milwaukee Journal indoor paper route at the Allis Chalmers building on 70th and Greenfield. However, once he started high school, he was unable to deliver the afternoon papers within the required timeframe and sold his route. Understanding his financial responsibility, he landed a position at Schuster’s department store selling shoes and worked there part time during high school and at Jensen’s Cleaners in the summer. After graduating from Marquette High, Glynn entered the prepharmacy program at UW–Madison. However, after his freshman year, he left college and entered the Air Force. Completing his four-year commitment, Glynn returned to Milwaukee and enrolled at Marquette University and later graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. It was during that time that a good friend arranged a blind date with Shirley. Shirley, originally born and raised on a farm in Southeast Iowa, didn’t have the chance to experience Catholic education until after she graduated from high school. “There were no Catholic schools where I grew up, however, my parents were very pro-education,” she explains.
Glynn built a successful career working on the financial side of business management, specializing in domestic and international accounting, tax, banking, trade and finance, acquisitions and foreign exchange management. Shirley focused on raising their four children, working part time in different areas of nursing, and volunteering at school and church. In 1982, three individuals purchased Rayovac Corporation in Madison, Wis. and Glynn joined the company shortly thereafter. In 1986, Glynn assisted one of the original partners in purchasing the shares of the other two partners enabling the restructure of ownership of Rayovac. The new owners continued strategies for turning around the Madisonbased, battery company. The group eventually sold the company in 1996. Today, Glynn and Shirley consider themselves retired, although they confess they are constantly working. They are active members of St. Thomas Aquinas in Madison, Wis., and at St. Dominic Mission in Rio Verde, Ariz. Glynn has served on the finance and investment committees for a number of boards and organizations. Shirley, too, is generous with her time and recently completed a fundraising drive to provide 200 Burmese refugee children with school uniforms and shoes. Shirley says, “People say that things slow down in retirement. Well they haven’t. You can now focus on things you never had time for and do more things that are helpful to society, to give back.” Shirley and Glynn have established a fully-funded endowed scholarship fund through a planned gift which will generate enough earnings to cover the cost of tuition for five Marquette High students per year. For more information about endowed scholarships, please contact John Thimmesch ’77, CFRE at 414-933-7220.