Rosalia (Rosalie) R. Willey passed away on August 31, 2016 in Moscow, Idaho. Born September 2, 1924, in the midst of the Depression, she was the third of five children born to Aloys J. and Agnes (Bielenberg) Reisenauer on a farm north of Colton, Washington. Rosalia graduated from Consolidated School in 1942, just after the beginning of World War II. Because there was a shortage of workers, she delayed entering nursing school and went to work at Dissmore's Food Mart in Pullman as a cashier and bookkeeper, where she earned $60/month working six days a week from 8 a.m. opening and then stocking shelves until midnight after the store closed for the day. After a few months, she went to work at the State Welfare Office in Colfax for $90 month and regular business hours! She eventually transferred to the Spokane office and then to the Walla Walla office as a bookkeeper.
Rosalia returned to Spokane in 1952, working for various grain companies until grain companies slowly moved to Portland as the railroads no longer stopped for inspections in Spokane.
In 1976, Rosalia was hired, along with a director, by AARP to set up and manage a new office for the employment of older workers (Senior Community Service Employment). She retired from AARP after 16 years.
Rosalia married Richard Willey in 1952, and together they bought rundown farms, dairies, and cattle ranches, cleaning them up and reselling them. They moved often, living in Marshall, West Plains, Elk, Addy, Chewelah, Quincy, and Moses Lake areas. In 1975, they moved to Spokane when Richard went to work for Boise Cascade falling trees and Rosalia worked for SCSEP. After her husband's death in 1998, she moved to Moscow to be closer to her sister and other relatives.
Rosalia was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Moscow and a long-time member of Catholic Daughters, the Grange, and AARP. She was a past board member of Friend to Friend, an organization which found friends for the lonely, sick, and elderly. Since she was not blessed with children, while living in Spokane, she befriended a lady who had no family in the area until she died after 7 years at the age of 90.
Rosalia was sickly as a child but is the last of her siblings – Marie, Eugene, Donald, and Richard – to take this last journey. She is survived by nieces, nephews, and many cousins.

The rosary will be recited at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 8th with a Funeral Mass following on Friday morning, Sept. 9th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Gall Catholic Church in Colton. Rev. Joseph Sullivan will be the celebrant. Burial will follow at the St. Gall Catholic Cemetery. Kimball Funeral Home of Pullman is handling arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, Rosalia would be honored by support of Catholic Relief Services, 228 W. Lexington Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201 or a charity of your choice.