Thomas Rosse
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Thomas Arthur Rosse, of Concord, MA, was born in Worcester, MA on April 21st, 1927 and passed away peacefully in his home on January 31st, 2021 with his family by his side. He was the husband of Florence "Bonnie" Meehan Rosse and a father to seven, Jeanne Waller, Diane MacDonald, Kimberly Rosse, Bradley Rosse, Deborah Rosse, Amy Rosse Stapleton, and Jonathan Rosse. He leaves behind many adoring grandchildren.
The son of Arthur and Alice Rosse, Thomas grew up in the midst of the Great Depression with his two younger siblings Richard Rosse and Virginia MacEntee. At 17 he forged his parent's signatures to join the Navy's Air Force in the Second World War. He was an aerial gunner and aviation radioman who decoded communications for the US.
Thomas returned home from WWII and attended the University of New Hampshire. He studied chemical engineering and was a talented running back for the football team. After an injury to his knee Thomas's football scholarship was revoked and he was forced to leave school; undeterred he enrolled in the engineering PhD program at MIT.
While studying at MIT, he was offered a job by National Lead. He left MIT and began his career as a chemical engineer. While at National Lead, Thomas encountered numerous physicians, who were losing patients due to the length of time it took to get accurate pH and Oxygen readings?two or more hours on average. Thomas left National Lead to solve this issue. In a small store front, he developed his first medical invention?The Blood Gas Analyzer. The Blood Gas Analyzer provided the desired vital statistics in not one to two hours but one to two minutes.
In 1959, Thomas took this life-saving innovation and founded Instrumentation Laboratory growing the company into the leading medical device business in the world. Thomas has eleven patents under his name. Two of his most notable devices are the Fetal Heart Monitor and the Flame Photometer.
Thomas sold Instrumentation Laboratories in 1983 to Allied, which would later become Allied Signal, and then Honeywell, after its acquisition by Allied Signal. He then founded the venture capital firm Rosse Enterprises, LTD in that same year. He was an angel investor and often operator of up to 30 different entities in various industries including medical technology and instrumentation, medical rehabilitation, biopharmaceuticals, laboratory medicine, manufacturing, finance, real estate, textiles, communications/media, and energy.
Thomas was the co-founder, director, and chairman, of numerous cutting edge companies throughout his career at Rosse Enterprises: such companies included Learning Services Corporation, an incurred brain injury rehabilitation facility; ImClone Systems, Inc., a leading biotechnology company that developed a highly successful cancer treatment; Vitaltrends Technology, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of neonatal workstations for cardio-pulmonary monitoring in neonatal intensive care units; and Visualization Technology, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of image guided surgical instrumentation.
Thomas received Financial World's CEO of the Year Award in 1982. In 1983, he was named New England's Inventor of the Year. He was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for both the Institute of Critical Care Medicine in California and Boston University's Medical Center. He was the Vice Chairman of the United States and Czechoslovakia Economic Council, the Vice President and Director of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Director of The New England Council, and was on the board of overseers for the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Science.
He was good friends of Jacques Cousteau and helped with aspects of the design for Cousteau's deep-sea submersible. He was one of the first Americans to visit China after relations normalized in the 70s and traveled extensively visiting his various plants throughout the world.
Thomas founded the Rosse Family Charitable Foundation in 1978. The Foundation supports numerous causes but has an emphasis on educational giving. Thomas and his wife Bonnie fund scholarships for students who demonstrate financial need, academic stability, and soundness of character.
While Thomas's innovative spirit, business acumen, and altruistic resolve were defining characteristics of this beloved man, he was also a gifted athlete. Aside from his notable college football career, he was a minor league baseball player and, an undefeated Golden Gloves Boxer. His most notable boxing match was a win over prizefighter 'Stormin' Norman Hayes while both were still amateurs. As a professional boxer Thomas was 18-2 suffering his two losses from cuts. His boxing career is symbolic of his life?he was impossible to knock down.
Thomas was a truly remarkable and humble man. He was a brilliant mind, fierce businessman, and mentor to many. He led a life of true integrity, honor, and compassion. He will be greatly missed by all, but especially by his family, for whom he was their intrepid leader and most solid, and loving, rock.
Due to COVID-19, private services were held at Dee Funeral Home in Concord, MA.
Donations in Thomas's honor may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 309 Waverley Oaks Rd, Waltham, MA 02452 and Care Dimensions Hospice, 75 Sylvan St, Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923.
For his online guestbook, please visit www.DeeFuneralHome.com.