Sidney Rose was born on February 5, 1938 in Whitesboro, Oklahoma to parents Janice Lyle Edwards and Elmer Rose. He attended high school at the Oklahoma School for the Blind in Muskogee, Oklahoma where he met the love of his life and high school sweetheart, Frances Merriman. They were wed on September 10, 1960 and briefly lived in Wichita, Kansas before permanently relocating to Oklahoma City for Sidney’s job at Garwin as an aircraft instrument technician. Sidney continued in that line of work for over 25 years spending time with Lear Siegler in Oklahoma City and Western Avionics in Moore. His expertise included manufacturing, repair and refurbishment of state-of-the-art military avionics.
Following a health complication, Sidney retrained and embarked on a second, nearly 20-year, career as a computer programmer for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, working primarily in COBOL and Visual Basic. Sidney performed exceptionally well and was commended for his talents, enthusiasm and the millions of dollars of benefits his work saved the State of Oklahoma.
Sidney was active in the community as a licensed amateur (“ham”) radio operator using the call sign WA5TAR, a volunteer for disaster preparedness organizations, a coach for his son’s baseball teams and a member of Kelham Baptist Church.
Sidney is survived by his wife Frances, son John, daughter-in-law Robin and granddaughter Riley all of Oklahoma City. He is proceeded in death by his mother Janice Edwards, father Elmer, step-father D.C. Edwards and brother James.
