Mary Rosen

Mary (Berman) Rosen died in Schenectady, New York on Tuesday August 22, 2006. Mary was born in Marathon New York, the youngest daughter of a poor Russian Jewish immigrant couple, Isaac and Sarah Berman. She attended secondary school in Roxbury, Mass., and was the first of their eight children to graduate from college, the University of Wisconsin in 1942. It was at UW that she met her late husband, Sam Rosen. They moved to Durham, New Hampshire in 1957, when Sam was appointed a professor of economics at the University. They spent 47 years together in their house on Oyster River Road. Mary was a devoted mother to her three children and is remembered as a second mother to many of her nieces and nephews. Mary worked as a math teacher and tutor. She was also active in state and local politics, participating actively in Durham's town hall meetings and in the state's Democratic Party. Mary never wavered in her commitment to the principals of equality and fair play After her children had completed secondary school she ran for the school board advocating the elimination of tracking and the promotion of technical education for all children. As her daughter Laura Drake said: "She was a woman before her times. She read books, drank martinis, and raised her children with two hands and one heart. She was an independent woman before there were feminists and a role model to me and all of her nieces and grandchildren." Neighbor Jane Kauffman reminisced: "When we first came to town, all the young faculty looked up to the Rosens. Here were people who had ideas, drank good wine, hung art in their homes and gave fabulous parties." She loved to travel. She and Sam lived and taught in Rome, Paris, The Hague, London and China. Their last trip was to Cuba with the Milwaukee Area Technical College. She spent her last 22 months in the loving care of her daughter-in-law Annie, youngest son Jonathan, and granddaughter Hannah in their home in Guilderland, New York. Survivors include daughter Laura (Chicago) and sons, Michael (Milwaukee) and Jonathan (New York), their spouses, 10 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren, brothers, Sammy and Arnold and sisters, Ida and Fran. Memorial contributions can be made to either Sam Rosen Prize University of New Hampshire, Whittemore School 15 College Road McConnell Hall Durham, NH 03824 or Local 212 Scholarship Endowment Fund c/o MATC Foundation 700 West State Street Milwaukee, WI 53233