Ronald Jay Rosellini age 49 of Wayne passed away quietly Friday, August 01, 2014 surrounded by his immediate family, long-time girlfriend, and closest friend.

He was born in Passaic and raised in Wayne, New Jersey. There he enjoyed a childhood in what was a town in transition, with the large Willowbrook Mall only a few years old and several large family farms only a few blocks from his home. In what was still very much a rural town, to which today’s High Mountain Park Preserve is a testament, he developed his life-long affinity for nature, hiking, and fishing.

As a child he played in local baseball leagues and was a member of the Cub Scouts for a time, building his own pinewood derby car. He won the Wayne Chess Tournament at the age of 12. He had an ear for music, and could play Christmas Carols on the organ without sheet music. He spent a lot of time with his family, and spent countless hours talking with his grandfather every week. He received his First Communion and Confirmation from Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Wayne. His mother passed away when he was only fifteen, and he helped raise his younger brother, who was only eight at the time. He used his imagination to develop elaborate games and competitions between them that lasted for years and which they intricately recorded.

Ron attended the old Anthony Wayne Junior High School across from the municipal building, and then graduated from Wayne Valley High School with the Class of 1983. At Wayne Valley he was voted the class “non-conformist” and friends affectionately gave him his nickname “the Roz” or “Big Roz” (in relation to his little brother) by which he was known his whole life. Ron attended William Paterson University in Wayne for its Business Management Program (when it was William Paterson College), where he enjoyed and fine-tuned his knack for engaging in political and social debate, and storytelling of all kinds with students and professors alike.

Over the years Ron applied this experience in management, sales, and marketing to various industries, including landscaping, temporary fencing and local history books. He was the owner of a landscaping business in the late 80s and early 90s in which he employed Wayne high school students (including his brother). His policy towards his employees was to always do a good job, enjoy everything the summer has to offer—and never show up for work before 10:00 A.M. Ron was involved in the local community, was a member of the local Y for many years where he was always available for a pick-up game of basketball. He was well-known in local establishments where he would meet friends and associates to converse, from the old Sandwich Pub in Wayne to Houlihan’s—where he would always leave an open invitation for anyone to go fishing with him.

Ron loved sports and gambling, enjoyed baseball, football, college basketball, horse racing, and knew just about any statistic relating to sports. He was an avid sports fan, and particularly an “Anti”-Yankees fan (as he would commonly say, he was a fan of whomever was playing against the Yankees). He had the ability to cut across generations by vividly discussing baseball’s history (from his grandfather’s favorite player of the early 1900s, N.Y. Giant Hall of Famer, Mel Ott, to present day baseball stars) to whatever sporting event happened to be taking place that day. Ron had a big outgoing personality and he was always upbeat. He had the rare ability to attend Yankees games in the Bronx to root against them, but then at the end of the game, make friends with those same Yankees fans he had come to rib. As one story he liked to tell, he successfully caused the Yankees’ second baseman to miss a pop-up after he yelled “Drop it!” He also loved to play Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments both in Atlantic City and locally, where he would use that ability to gently rib his opponents to his advantage.

Ron lived a short time in Fairfield. In 2011 his residence was flooded out by Hurricane “Irene”, and he had to wade through neck-deep water to salvage what belongings he could. He returned to Wayne, residing on the edge of High Mountain Park Preserve. Many years earlier, Ron had been the catalyst, researcher, sales and charity coordinator for the previous effort at creating a comprehensive history book on the town. Having returned to Wayne, he revisited his affinity for Wayne and its history, and immediately began setting about writing and creating a new history book on Wayne with photography of its historical sites and nature preserves. In this effort, everything he had learned and experienced in life came together—his love of nature, history, story-telling, entrepreneurship, photography and working with the community. He understood both the need for communities to change in order to be dynamic and the importance of maintaining the knowledge of history for a sense of identity and perspective. His short battle with cancer prevented him from publishing the Wayne History Book in his lifetime, but he wanted it to be his legacy. In the days before his death he went over the last remaining details of the book and its imminent publishing, and passed away knowing that his work was complete.

He was the loving son of Mario Rosellini of Wayne and the late Joan (Badame) Rosellini (1980); devoted brother of Kenneth Rosellini of Wayne; cherished long time boyfriend of Linda Gilmore of Lake Hopatcong.

As Ron wrote in the foreword to the Wayne History Book, “God Bless Wayne, God Bless the United States of America, and God Bless Us All.” We now, in memorial, say back, God Bless Ron “Big Roz” Rosellini, and Godspeed.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Chilton Medical Center Foundation, 97 West Parkway, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444 would be appreciated.