Inside The Life Of Rosalie Jean Willis, Charles Mansons First Wife

Publish date: 2024-05-03

Rosalie Jean Willis was Charles Manson’s first wife. She faced hardships throughout her life when she lost all of her children in her lifetime. Charles Manon however lived to see the last of his days and Rosalie outlasted them all.

Rosalie Jean Willis wouldn’t have thought in a million years that her first husband, Charles Manson, would go on a violent spree by paving his way from their marital delight. 

He is now regarded as one of the most violent and inhumane characters to have graced the earth, but he too was once a normal married man. 

It also seems Rosalie was destined for bad luck from the beginning. Charles Manson was her first husband whom she married when she was only fifteen. 

This was all before his inspiration which came from The Beatles would result in the Helter Skelter slogan and the murders of Sharon Tate which would culminate the hippie era. 

Early Beginnings

Rosalie Willis was born on 28 January 1937. She grew up in the city of Benwood, West Virginia and was the third child to Clarence ‘Cowboy’ Willis and Virginia McNich. Her two sister siblings were Amy And Eileen and she also had a brother named Clarence Willis. 

Rosalie was unfortunate to see her parents divorce at a young age. Her father was a coal miner.

1954 saw Charles Manson living near Charleston, West Virginia with his mother, Kathleen Maddox. Somewhere down the line, Rosalie’s father Clarence ‘Cowboy’ met the young man aged 20 named Charles Manson. The boy befriended the father and things took off from there. 

How Rosalie Met Charles

Rosalie Willis was around 15 year old when she was employed and working as a waitress in a hospital. It was then that she would meet Charles Manson in his twenties. 

Rosalie would later define Charles of this age and time as the man who was the complete opposite of the monster he would become 15 years later. The man she married was a handsome young nice man. 

After they both met, they would soon go on to marry each other, owing to the boy’s friendly acquaintance with Rosalie’s father. 

The Marriage of Rosalie Jean Willis with Charles Manson

Rosalie Willis would go on to marry Charles Manon on 7th January 1955. 

The tying of the knots would be carried out at the Nazarene Church. The specific church was  chosen because of Nancy Inigram’s membership. Nancy was Charles Manson’s grandmother. 

At the time, Rosalie was working as a nurse and Charles Manson was working as a car repairer. He was also a car thief and it is believed that Rosalie knew of this occupation of her new husband. 

Rosalie believed that she and her marriage would change her husband. She would fine later that this would not be the case and it is hard to let go of old practices. 

Progression After the Marriage

Rosalie became pregnant soon and the newly-married couple would move to Los Angeles when she was only three months pregnant. In order to support his family, Charles Manson would work odd jobs and steal cars across town. 

Charles Manson would later say that he enjoyed that part of life where he would come back home to his wife after working every morning. He would say that was ‘the good life’ and that he missed it. 

He would also remember Rosalie as a ‘super girl’ who would not make any demands from her husband. Although he labels the time as the time when they were both kids, Charles still reminisced about it. 

Charles Manson’s Arrest

Although the naive belief of Rosalie that Charles would later change his way of earning was innocent, it would soon shatter when Charles was arrested for a stolen car which he used to drive to Los Angeles and crossed state lines. 

This was considered a felony and after failing to appear in court and already having a criminal history, Charles would land up in Terminal Island prison. The prison was in San Pedro, California. 

This left Rosalie Jean Willis handling her pregnancy alone and married for only about a year. 

Time in Prison

Rosalie used to visit her husband in prison along with Kathleen. 

But soon enough, Rosalie saw that there was no hope for Charles in prison to amend his ways and save their marriage, so she decided to end it. It was within this time that she would start seeing another man after losing all hope. 

The Divorce

Rosalie Jean Willis would then file for divorce on 9th July 1957. The final decree would be handed to her on 10th September, 1958. 

Charles Manson and Rosalie’s Child

Rosalie would have one son with Charles which they would name Charles Manson Jr. He was born in 1956. Rosalie’s mother-in-law supported the mother as a single parent and thus they raised the child by themselves. 

Rosalie in the meantime would start seeing another man and give marriage a second shot. 

Charles Manson Jr.

Charles Manson was a cult leader and a dangerous criminal. He formed a like-minded group of people who would identify themselves as the “Manson Family”. This group was based in California. They would go on to perform a series of murders at various locations in the year 1969. 

Charles Manson Jr. lived under the shadow of his father throughout his life. Despite struggling, he failed to overcome the trauma of his father and his atrocities and succumbed to ending his life. He was just 13 when the news of the Tate murders shocked the world. 

After failing to distance himself from his father, he shot himself at the age of 37. 

Rosalie’s Second Marriage

Rosalie would start seeing another man named Jack White when she lost all hope regarding her husband Charles Manson in prison. After deciding upon on divorce, she would then go on to marry Jack. 

The marriage would result in two sons, Jesse J. White and Jed White. Jesse was born on 3 February 1958 and Jed would be born on 4th April 1959. 

Second Divorce

Jack White became Rosalie’s second husband and also the father to three sons: two his own and Charles Jr, who would also rename himself Jay White after his new father. 

This marriage would go on to outlast the previous but would also fail. The good marriage came to an end in 1965.

Rosalie’s Third Marriage

Rosalie would give love another chance and try her luck in marriage again. She would go on to marry Warren Howard Handley who was also known as Jack.

This marriage would go on to last but would also meet an unfortunate end. Warren would pass away in 1998.

A Fate No Mother Should See

Rosalie saw what no mother should see, deaths of her loved ones and children. She went to outlast all of them and in the process saw each of them pass away. None of the children passed away due to natural causes. 

The Whites

Jed died at the age of eleven as a result of an accident in January 1971. His friend shot him in the gut and he died as a result of the bullet wound. 

Jesse lived till the age of twenty-eight when he was found dead in a car. He was found dead as a result of an overdose after a night of heavy drinking out at a bar in Houston, Texas with a friend. The friends left on negative terms. 

Manson Jr. 

The first child of Rosalie met an unfortunate fate. He was subjected to probable outcasting and bullying. He must have also been a victim of stress, tension, depression and anxiety. 

His father was the notorious Charles Manson and people were sure to pin that out when they found out his name.

The thirty-seven year old couldn’t bear not to distance himself from his father and took his own life as a result on a highway in Burlington, Colorado. 

He was known to actively alienate his son as well after fearing he would suffer the same fate he did because of his father. 

Rosalie Jean Willis and Her Legacy

Jason Freeman is the name of Charles Jr.’s son. He has become a kickboxing cage fighter and is actively fighting to clean the name of Manson. 

He has till date managed to cleanse himself of his past and the apparent doom his family has brought upon itself. He wanted his father to not commit suicide and move on from the family darkness. 

Rosalie passed after 11 years of the latest demise and outlasted every child of her marriages. She was said to be a person full of humor and a nice woman at heart. 

It is now expected that her grandson can now live on and live a leading life so that he can traverse the vacated course of a good family name for future generations of Manson to come.

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