William Albert Rosen, 90, of Highland Park, IL, beloved husband of Eunice, passed away in April.
Billy started playing bridge when he was a student at DePaul University in Chicago. He and partner, Milton Ellenby, were featured in the August 1953 edition of Life magazine as the youngest winners of the von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs.
His restless spirit, analytic mind, and gambler’s heart propelled him to victory at the 1954 Bermuda Bowl World Bridge Team Championship at the age of 25… the youngest player to achieve such a title and a record he held until 1981.
In a bridge column in September, 1954, in Playboy Magazine, Billy was quoted as saying, “The game holds a beguiling interest to most people because it is undoubtedly the most challenging of all card games, combining skill in bidding, play of the hand, and also, the subtle art of gamesmanship.” The New York Times called him one “of the greatest names in the game.”
Billy was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2014 as a recipient of the von Zedtwitz Award. He will be remembered as a brilliant gentleman at the table, missed sorely by those whose lives he touched.
