Service Details
A visitation for Leon will be held on Wednesday March 12, 2025 at the funeral home from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. He will be laid to rest privately in Holy Cross Cemetery, Hwy. 32, Caledonia.
Leon J. Rosko, age 75, of Kenosha, passed away on February 21, 2025.
Leon was born in Kenosha on December 27, 1949, son of the late Zigmund M. and Genevieve S. (nee; Smolik) Rosko.
He attended St. Casmir’s Parish Elementary School in Kenosha and graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1968.
On October 6, 1976, he was united in marriage to Katherine M. Fromm at St. Edward’s Catholic Church in Racine. Sadly, she preceded him in death on November 28, 1997.
Leon worked in the warehouse at Guardian Container, and later, he and Kathy operated Finney’s West, serving many delicious meals and drinks, and playing host to a great number of softball games and tournaments. Well-known as a kind man, and a “people person” in the truest sense of the expression, his time at Finney’s allowed him the opportunity to meet many people that turned into longtime friends. He was a lifelong sports fanatic and followed the Chicago Cubs religiously.
A member of Kenosha Moose Lodge #286 since November of 1994, Leon served until recently as the director of their softball program, scheduling leagues and running tournaments. In honor of his tireless dedication to the sport and their program, the lodge named their softball field for him in October of 2020. He also served as the bar manager at the lodge, which allowed him to keep up with community events, and with those he cared about.
He was proud to have been inducted into the Kenosha Softball Hall of Fame in 2014, in recognition of his many contributions to the Kenosha softball community.
Leon is survived by his sister-in-law, Cindy Rosko; his nephews, Dean and Aaron Rosko; his brother, Eugene (Linda) Rosko, and many cousins.
Along with his parents and his beloved Kathy, he was preceded in death by his brothers, Richard and Joseph Rosko
You’re friend JoAnn Pasquali says
A beautiful soul is never forgotten, just remembered with great love.Those who touch our lives stay in our hearts forever
Ellen & Tom Bothe says
Our deepest sympathy for your loss. Leon was a true supporter of the community.
We will miss him!
Tom & Ellen Bothe
Steven Widmar says
Steve Widmar class of 68. Goodbye my old friend
Annie Wright says
To Leon’s family and friends,please accept my deepest sympathies on the loss of Leon. I went to St.Josephs High School with him. He was always made me laugh and was very nice to me.
R.I.P. Leon.
Paul E. Vagnoni says
Leon Rosko will be laid to rest next week. Because I will not be able to attend the services, I would like to share a quick memory of this wonderful friend of mine.
In the fall of 1978. Sam “Finney” Perry approached Leon Rosko and asked him to run the leagues and handle the announcing schedules at Finney’s West.
Leon agreed and later that winter, at a Kenosha Flyers hockey game, he convinced me to give him a hand with the endeavor. That was a decision I will never regret.
The announcer’s booth soon became a major attraction at Finney’s West. With a clubhouse-like atmosphere, the booth was the place to be.
Sports were discussed, hot dogs, popcorn and beers were consumed, cigarettes, cigars and what have you were smoked, farts were farted, and nasty remarks were made on a nightly basis.
Oh ya, and softball games were announced. All in that wooden booth that sat high atop the concession stand.
When Perry decided to retire, he sold the business to Leon. He was now the owner/operator of Finney’s West. Not only was he running the ballpark, but he was now responsible for the tavern and restaurant as well.
This meant long hours and lots of hard work. Weekend tournaments added to Leon’s workload. It meant that after closing the tavern at 2:00 AM, he would return four short hours later to prepare the diamond for the tourney.
Let me use the Annual Women’s Marathon Tournament as an example of what this entailed for my friend.
Before the first pitch had been thrown, Leon hard at it for hours. He had been busy doing all the things necessary for the tournament to run smoothly.
He had set the schedule, ordered the trophies, lined up the umpires, dragged and chalked both of the diamonds and stocked all of the coolers.
You get the picture. If there was something that needed to be done, chances are Leon did it or was in the process of doing it.
Plus, you have to factor into the equation that this was a marathon tournament, and he had no sleep since arriving just as the sun had come up Saturday morning.
Taking a break wasn’t an option. Well, maybe there was…
Early Sunday morning, with everything running like clockwork, an exhausted Leon attempted to take a well-deserved “break” on the floor of the announcer’s booth.
He pushed the box of used softballs out of the way, grabbed an old glove from lost ‘n’ found to use a pillow and started his nap in the back of the booth.
Leon had barely started to snore when members of the Finney’s New Yorkers team entered the booth. The ladies were armed with a box of Dunkin’ Donuts.
They asked me where Leon was. I put a finger to my lips and gestured to the sleeping figure on the floor behind me.
Whispering softly, they explained that they had brought the box of donuts to give to Leon in appreciation for all of his hard work.
Despite my rather feeble efforts to stop the New Yorkers, they decided Leon had rested long enough and proceeded to attempt to wake him to give him his gift.
Calling his name didn’t work, neither did tickling his ear. When poking and prodding Leon had no results, the ladies proceeded to wave one of the sugary delights under his nose.
That did it!
Needless to say, Leon’s snooze was now over, and breakfast was served to the appreciative, albeit bleary-eyed, owner/operator.
I would be lying if I said that I remembered what place the New Yorkers finished in the tournament. However, I do remember that the New Yorkers did indeed use a donut as an alarm clock.
Leon did so much for others and the kind gesture by these wonderful ladies was just what Leon needed and was well-deserved.
That’s all I have for now. Dear God, I miss my friend.
Zuzia and Joe Setter says
Rest in Peace. Condolences to his family.
Mike and Sue Sorensen says
Stacy and Bev and family. We are so sorry to hear of Gil’s passing. You are in our thoughts and prayers. We always enjoyed talking with him and Mike and Gil could really talk about cars. Especially Mustangs.
Know how much he will be missed by the family, he was such a gentle