A young Ray Rosser and as a referee in the USA in 1984

 

Raymond David Rosser was born in Tempe NSW on the 16th April 1936, the first born of Edith Dorothy and James Charles Rosser. The family, including his sister Joyce and brother, John lived in Lakemba, a western suburb of Sydney. Ray served an apprenticeship in a local engineering firm and studied at the Bankstown College of T.A.F.E. It was these early studies that were to lead Ray into a lifetime of study. He believed that knowledge enabled an individual to bring about change so that mankind was better served.

As a young man he was keen on sport. He played cricket and baseball with local teams and like all Sydneysiders was keen on surfing.

In 1959 Ray accepted a position as a teacher of technical studies with the S.A. Education Dept. and he moved to Adelaide where he lived in Unley with George and Lillian Young (deceased). Ray remained life long friends with the Young Family. He played cricket and baseball for the Sturt Clubs and Rugby Union with the Southern Suburbs Club.

Ray accepted a scholarship in 1966 to study the Education of the Deaf in Melbourne. While there he lived with Esther & Ted King and their baby son. This family has remained close friends with the Rosser Family since this time. Ray joined the Victorian Rugby Union Referees' Association and began a commitment to refereeing which lasted until his death. Ray continued his musical studies in Melbourne, and his teacher, Alison was destined to become his wife at the end of 1966. They were married on New Year's Eve.

Ray brought his new wife to Adelaide in 1967 and he began teaching at the Croydon Centre for Hearing Impaired Children. In 1968 they set up their home in Dernancourt where they have lived ever since. The great joys and happiness in Ray's life was the wonderful companionship which he had with Alison, the birth of their son Andrew in 1969 and their daughter Janine in 1973.

Ray taught the hearing impaired in the Underdale Centre and the Smithfield Plains Centre where he was teacher-in-charge. In 1972 he was promoted to the position of Principal of the Croydon Centre for Hearing Impaired Children, a position he has held until his death. In 1981 he was invited to undertake a professional internship at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in New York to study the integration and support services for the hearing impaired. Upon his return Ray's report was well received at the national and state level. Ray made many friends in Rochester and he has continued correspondence with them up to this time.

In 1982 Ray was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study Developments in Post-Secondary Education and Services for the Hearing-Impaired in the United Kingdom. He composed a 500 page report upon his return which was sent to appropriate organisations throughout Australia. This was done at a personal cost to himself. Many of the recommendations made in the report have come to fruition whilst others still have to be achieved in this country.

Ray was further awarded a Rotary Foundation Scholarship in 1983?84 to study Audiology, Psycho?Linguistics, Aural Habilitation, Speech Science, Acoustic Phoenetics and Communication at the Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. He took his family with him and his children attended school in America during that time. While he was there, he joined the Potomac Rugby Referees Assocation and this resulted in his travelling to referee matches throughout Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. He made many friends during this time and he communicated with them up till now.

These studies in the UK, Washington and Rochester were to have a profound influence upon Ray's approach to the education of the hearing impaired. He made friends with people in the Office of Assessment and Demographic Studies at Gallaudet and he constantly sort their advice on assessment matters pertaining to the education of hearing impaired children. Ray became convinced that many hearing impaired children needed individualised educational programmes based on the levels at which they were performing rather than regular school programmes which have no relevance to their level of functioning. He was conducting research in this area and it was his intention to draw it all together in a book for parents when he retired.

Ray served the S.A. Rugby Referee's Association as a referee and administrator from about 1964 to the present time. Over a number of years he was involved with the referee's appointment committee and the management committee.  The fellowship among Rugby followers throughout the world is one of the experiences that Ray held dear. He was made a life member of the Referee's Association in 1989.

In 1984 Ray was invited to become a Charter Member of the Rotary Club of Morialta. Ray enjoyed the opportunity to render service to the local and world-wide community throughout the club and with his fellow Rotarians. He served as President during 1988-89. In September 1990 Ray was granted the Paul Harris Fellow Award for services to Rotary.

Ray became ill with leukemia in April 1990 and died on December 14 1990 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia.

Ray is survived by his wife Alison, his children Andrew and Janine, his mother, his sister Joyce and brother John. To his many friends and associates he was a man of service to others. We are the richer for having known him and we will sorely miss his company and his ability to laugh off the adversities that affect him.

 

Ray Rosser receiving the Churchill Fellowship from Mark Oliphant

 

Signing to a student

 

 

 

Ray as manager of state SAJRU teams, in the 1960s or 1970s

 

... obituary & photographs courtesy of Alison Rosser 12th July 2003

 

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The Ray Rosser Award

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