Rosie Ecloy Thornton Gruner (1914-2004) She was known to many of us simply as “Aunt Rose,” the beloved wife of our Uncle Phil (G-75-7). But she was much more than that to her husband of almost 64 years. Rosie, or Rose, as she was usually known, was born on December 26, 1914 in Hickman County, Tennessee, the daughter of Robert Lee Thornton and Cora Knotts. In late 1939 she followed family members to Detroit, and there she met Philip Gruner at his church. They were married there on July 17, 1940. She died in Tennessee on March 26, 2004. Unable to have children of her own, Rose heard of a need for boarding homes for children from broken homes, and so began many years of taking in unwanted children. They soon declined accepting payment from the State, so the children would not think they were doing it for the money. After a few years, they began adopting children. There were also two girls they wished to adopt, but their mother refused to let them. They ended up adopting three boys and a girl, LeRoy, Richard, Corinne, and Benjamin. In addition to caring for the adopted children, Rose helped raise her sister’s children, worked with Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts and did volunteer work at the Juvenile Detention Home in Detroit. To make room for the many activities, Philip bought a small farm in suburban Detroit. It had two houses, a barn and enough farm machinery to keep the boys occupied. When the children were grown, they moved to Tennessee and established a home near the Natchez Trace Parkway in the west central part of the State. It was on wooded land, a large acreage with a small stream and a canyon cutting through it. Much as she loved nature, Rosie was lonely without her children. She and Philip both had trained voices and sang a cappella in Michigan. She began singing to the residents of a nearby nursing home. Later, she and Philip began singing together again. Two years ago, suffering from arthritis in her knee joints, she had knee replacement surgery that left her crippled. Injuries sustained in a subsequent fall left her even more disabled. Gradually her health began to fail and finally the end came just three months past her eighty-ninth birthday, on March 27, 2004.