Rosalyn I. Walston

Rosalyn I. Walston, age 95, of Fulton, IL, passed away in her home with family by her side on Tuesday, August 23, 2022. A funeral mass will be held Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Savanna, IL, at 11am. Visitation will take place at Antl Hall from 9am to 11am before the mass. Burial will follow at St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery, in Savanna.

Rosalyn was born August 1, 1927 in Savanna, IL, the daughter of Lawrence J. and Mary O. (Benz) O’Neal, Sr. She attended Savanna Schools, graduating from Savanna High School with class of 1945. During her high school years, she worked for Times Theater, in Savanna, then later worked for the Garment Factory in Orangeville, IL for a short time, before meeting her husband-to-be, Gene. On April 17, 1948, Rosalyn married Francis “Gene” Walston, Sr. They would celebrate nearly 43 years of marriage before Gene’s passing in 1991.

Rosalyn was a loving, family-oriented woman, who loved to bake, crochet, and sew. She could sew just about anything, fashioning most of her family’s clothing, that is until she and her family had a stroke of luck. In 1961, Rosalynn was selected to appear on the game show, Truth or Consequence (a precursor to The Price is Right), where she won a 1961 Pontiac Tempest, a Nimrod Camper Trailer, and a $1000 Spiegel Catalog gift certificate. That year, the whole family got to buy new clothes!

After her husbands passing, Rosalyn made it her mission to stay active; mentally, physically, and spiritually. She was a proud member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, and joined the church choir. She would go for long walks often, walking miles at a time, well into her 90’s. One of her favorite pastimes was riding her bike up and down the driveway, sometimes for hours, while reciting the rosary.

Rosalyn will be dearly missed by her sons, Francis “Frank” (Paulette) Walston, Jr. and Dick Walston, both of Fulton, IL; daughters, Gayle (Scott) Lewis, of Taylor, SC and Sandra Moore, of Thomson, IL; 11 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. Rosalyn is preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Mary; husband, Gene; daughter, Patricia Grove; two infant sons, Clarence and Jack; grandson, Benjamin Lewis; brothers, Lawrence J. O’Neal, Jr. and Bernard O’Neal; and sister, Mary “Billie” Sullivan.