July 20, 2010
BLACK RIVER FALLS – Devin Rose was doing what his mother said he loved most before he died: fishing.
Her son had fished and hunted since he was little, Melissa Roskos said.
But the Merrillan 16-year-old recently had put those aside while holding down two jobs, at Burger King and Federation Co-op, to fulfill his goal of buying his prized Chevy S-10 pickup truck.
“He loved to work to make money,” Roskos said.
Rose and a friend were fishing and swimming Saturday evening on the Black River near Palm Road east of Hwy. K in the town of Komensky when Rose disappeared, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.
A search by numerous agencies ended when the Jackson County Dive Unit located Rose’s body about 12:30 a.m. Sunday about 30 feet from shore, the department stated.
The river reportedly was high, with a strong current due to recent rain.
Rose, who would have been a junior this fall at Black River Falls High School, also enjoyed football and wrestling, Roskos said, and dreamed of wrestling for Ohio State. Black River Falls’ head wrestling coach Steve Markee said he expected Rose to be a team leader this season at the 189-pound weight class.
“He was your typical teenage boy – he was fun-loving. He did work hard when we wrestled in the room,” Markee said. “(He) was a great kid to have around.”
That sense of fun is what his family will remember most as well, Roskos said.
“He was a joker. He loved to tell jokes and play pranks on you,” she said. “(He loved) spending time with his family and friends.”
Funeral services will be 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Taylor Lutheran Church. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery in Black River Falls. Visitation will be 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Torgerson’s Funeral Home in Black River Falls and 1:30 p.m. until time of services Thursday.
It was the third water-related death in Jackson County in the past two weeks. Two Minnesota men died July 10 after scuba diving in Lake Wazee.