Rosalie Jean Willis- All About Charles Manson’s First Wife

Rosalie Jean Willis worked as a waitress, but is best known as the first wife of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. In addition to the burden of being the wife of a monstrous husband, she had to endure the death of her three children before she could rest in peace.

Rosalie Jean Willis is the first wife of Charles Manson

Rosalie Jean Willis, as stated above, was the first wife of the American criminal Charles Manson. She was born in the United States on January 28, 1937. Clarence Willis and Virginia McNich raised her as their daughter. Rosalie, the third of her parents’ four children, had a very normal upbringing.

He spent most of his childhood in Benwood, West Virginia, with his parents and siblings. The 84-year-old had two older sisters, Amy and Eileen, as well as a brother, Clarence “Buster” Willis.

Unfortunately, neither his parents nor his siblings are still alive. Rosalie’s ethnicity was Caucasian and she was a US citizen.

Rosalie Jean Willis married Charles Manson when she was 15 years old

On January 7, 1955, Rosalie Jean Willis married Charles Manson. Their wedding took place at the Nazarene Church in a private ceremony attended by family and close friends. The most intriguing aspect is that Rosalie was only a 15-year-old teenager when she married Manson, who was supposedly 20 years old at the time.

The former couple met at a hospital where Willis worked as a waitress. Their meeting occurred by chance when Charles, a part-time auto mechanic and car thief, had to move to Charleston, West Virginia, with his mother Kathleen Maddox. Maddox befriended Rosalie’s father there, setting the stage for the infamous marriage.

The most fascinating fact, however, is that Willis married Manson despite knowing he was a thief. Her hope that she could change him after marriage turned out to be an unattainable goal. As a result, three years after her marriage, in 1958, she filed for divorce, which was finalized the same year.

Her son with Manson committed suicide

Rosalie Jean Willis gave birth to Charles Manson Jr. in 1956 after a three-year marriage to Charles. When Charles was sentenced to Terminal Island Prison in San Pedro, California for smuggling a stolen car across the border, she was only three months pregnant.

While her then-husband was away, she cared for the boy alone until his mother arrived. Willis married another man and moved to another city as her son grew up. Her eldest son, on the other hand, could not overcome the stigma of being the son of a criminal.

He finally shot himself in the head around the age of 37.

She married twice after divorcing Charles

Rosalie was more than just Charles’s wife. She was married twice after divorcing him. She married a second time to a man named Jack White. Although she has not said when she married Jack, she supposedly had a good but brief relationship. They divorced amicably in 1965.

He had two children from his marriage. Her first child, Jesse J. White, was born in 1958 and her second child was born in 1959.

Willis married Warren Howard “Jack” Handley for the third time after divorcing her second husband. They had a good relationship, but it wasn’t going to last long. Things got worse for her when she had to watch all of her children die in front of her eyes.

Rosalie Jean Willis’s three children died unnaturally

It’s hard to imagine the agony Rosalie endured, but she did. Rosalie had to witness the death of all the children in her life. Aside from the death of Charles Manson Jr., whom she renamed Jay White (after her second husband), her children from her second marriage also passed away.

The tragedy began in January 1971, with the death of her 11-year-old son Jed. His death was reportedly due to an accident in which his friend shot her in the stomach while they were playing.

Similarly, his second son, Jesse, was discovered dead in his car at the age of 28. He and a friend were reportedly drinking at a bar in Houston, Texas, the night of his death. His death was said to be the result of a drug overdose.

What happened to Rosalie Jean Willis? His death

Rosalie is no longer with us. She died on August 21, 2009, nearly 11 years after the death of her third husband in 1998, according to Find a Grave. She reportedly died as a result of a complication from lung cancer. She was at her Tucson, Arizona, home when she died. Rosalía was then 71 years old. She was buried at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, Clark County, Nevada.

As for her first husband, Charles Manson, he died on November 19, 2017, at the age of 83, in Bakersfield, California.

Categories: Biography
Source: Rosalie Jean Willis- All About Charles Manson’s First Wife – Tekmonk Bio, Rosalie Jean Willis- All About Charles Manson’s First Wife – KOLNetworth, Rosalie Jean Willis- All About Charles Manson’s First Wife – Blogtomoney