Rosalyn McKay Eyman, 95, of rural Knox City, Missouri, passed away Thursday, July 17, 2025, at the Boone Hospital in Columbia, Missouri, surrounded by family.
Rosalyn was born on June 5, 1930, in Watseka, Illinois, the daughter of Orion McKay “O.M.” and Dorothea Arnold Warren Gillaspy.
She graduated from Edina High School in the Class of 1948. Rosalyn attended Christian College, now Columbia College, in Columbia, Missouri and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History and Education from the University of Missouri, Columbia.
Her first teaching job was in St. Louis, Missouri before returning to Knox County, Missouri. She later taught art at the new Knox County High School where she created the first art department in the school.
On September 11, 1955, at her parent’s home in Edina, Missouri, Rosalyn married William R. “Bill” Eyman, while he was on leave from the U.S. Army.
After his military obligation was complete they moved to the farm south of Knox City, Missouri to make their home and raise two daughters.
Rosalyn was a member of Bee Ridge Methodist Church and was active in the church and community. She organized “Swimmin’ Women” first teaching the neighborhood kids how to swim while the mothers were active with snapping beans and sewing. Later she taught the women and some others in the community how to swim. She was in two different ladies bridge clubs for more than 50 years. Rosalyn was an active member in “The 80’s Ladies”, a group she helped organize. She and Bill enjoyed “Supper Club” with friends and she was proud to help with the planning of the interior design of the St. Joseph Catholic Church. She and her husband traveled the world enjoying the people, history and their art.
The grandkids loved coming for a week to the farm (without parents) even as teenagers where they enjoyed swimming, fishing, going to Hannibal, learning to drive, and playing with the cats. There was unlimited cookie dough, ice pops, and bugels. They looked forward to “the poem book” which she read from each evening before bed.
Rosalyn is survived by her husband of almost 70 years, Bill Eyman of rural Knox City, Missouri; a daughter, Julie and her husband Bill Moore of Columbia, Missouri; a son-in-law, Bryan Bradley of Knox City, Missouri; a brother, Dudley Gillaspy of Edina, Missouri; a granddaughter, Rachel and her husband Alex Chacon of New York, New York; a grandson, Christopher and his wife Melissa Moore of Atlanta, Georgia; along with several nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of neighbors and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, O.M. and Dorothea Gillaspy; a daughter, Teresa “Lynn” Bradley; a brother, James Warren “Jim” Gillaspy; and a sister-in-law, Dixie Gillaspy.
A Celebration of Rosalyn’s Life will take place at the graveside services at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 26, 2025, at the Bee Ridge Cemetery southeast of Edina, Missouri. It was her wish to be cremated and the family would invite those that knew her to share a story about her life at the celebration.
An expression of sympathy in memory of Rosalyn Eyman may be left to the Knox County Library, Knox County Cancer Fund, or the Knox County Nutrition Site. A memorial may be left at or mailed to the Doss Funeral Home 208 N. 4th Street, Edina, Missouri 63537.