Rockville Centre resident of 60 years dies

Jerome Rosenthal, 89, of Rockville Centre, died peacefully at Calvary Hospital on April 19 after fighting a long battle with multiple myeloma. He was born on April 23,1923 in Brooklyn, where he attended Erasmus High School. Rosenthal then proudly served in the “bloomin” Navy during World War II as an aviation machinist, mostly in San Diego, Calif. After the war, he graduated from Hobart College, where he played on the 1947 and 1948 lacrosse and football teams. He married his college sweetheart, Bernice, and they enjoyed 63 wonderful, love-filled years. 

Rosenthal lived in Rockville Centre for 60 years and was a member of Congregation B’nai Sholom the entire time. He worked in the plumbing industry, with Wm. Grossberg, Inc. in New Hyde Park, and then with Bellkey Maintenance Corp. in Oceanside. He was an avid traveler, a real theater buff, and a competitive tennis and bridge player. He was a wonderful friend, a never-ending jokester and an all around fix-it-man. For the last 20 years, Rosenthal was an active Hofstra University PEIR participant, where he found intellectual stimulation and a new community of friends. 

Besides his devoted wife, he leaves behind his children Cindy and Randy Heller and Margie Rosenthal and Seth Hanft, and his grandchildren, Marissa Heller and Tyler and Noah Hanft. Rosenthal loved his family and life, and was the happiest man around. If you are inclined to give a donation in his memory, please consider Congregation B’nai Sholom-Beth David, 195 N. Village Ave., Rockville Centre 11570, or the American Cancer Society.