WT2c John Frank Rozar

John Frank Rozar was born Dec. 5, 1916 in Colorado, probably in Colorado Springs. His father, Joseph Rozar, was a restaurant cook and his mother, Mary Rogula Rozar, a homemaker. The father was a Hungarian immigrant.

By 1920 they definitely lived in Colorado Springs, but in September 1928, John, the middle of three sons, was 12 when his father died in Colorado Springs.

The spring 1930 Census said Mrs. Rozar was a laundress for a private family and the oldest son, 15, was both a student and a butcher at a market.

John Rozar graduated in 1935 from Colorado Springs High School, where the yearbook said his ambition was to be a wrestler. He enlisted in the Navy on July 10, 1937.

Mr. Rozar was a watertender and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Sources: Census; grave marker; Navy muster roll. Colorado Springs High yearbook photograph.. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.