Marlene Rosenthal

Marlene Rosenthal, 92, of Peoria, Arizona, passed away on November 4th, 2023, the result of an accidental fall. She was born September 23, 1931, in Chicago, to Aaron and Dorothy Taub (Sandler), and was predeceased by her husband, Edward Rosenthal, whom she was married to for 30 years. She is survived by her daughter, Robin (Bill) Bobrowicz, her sons, Mark (Laurie) Rosenthal and Ari (Alice Dougherty) Rosenthal, her grandchildren, Jillian (Jake) Newton, Cameron Rosenthal and Erin Rosenthal, as well as her great-grandson, August.

Aside from being devoted to her family, Marlene sang in the choir for various Temples, and was a longtime volunteer, serving over 30 years as a volunteer and manager of gift shop operations at Ingalls Hospital in Harvey, Illinois, and then Arrowhead (Abrazo-Arrowhead) Hospital in Glendale, Arizona. Her many years of volunteering resulted in her being a 2009 recipient of the Call to Service Award from the United States President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. In addition, she was most proud and honored in 2016 to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Office of the President of the United States for her “lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service.”

A lover of dogs and all things chocolate, Marlene spent the last years of her life enjoying lots of social activities at her Independent Retirement Center, including her beloved games of bingo (3x a week) and pokeno. She also had a strong will to live. She was a cancer survivor, and in 2020, while nearly 89 years old, she survived Covid, defying all odds and predictions after spending over a month in the hospital and being on a ventilator for over 2 weeks.

Friends and family will gather for a graveside service for Marlene that will be held Wednesday, November 15th, 2023, at 1:00 pm at Jewish Oakridge Cemetery (Glen Oaks Cemetery Inc), 4301 Roosevelt Road, Hillside, Illinois 60162. Shiva to follow at the home of her son, Ari Rosenthal, 3135 Brossman Street, Naperville, Illinois, from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Wednesday, November 15th, 2023.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Marlene’s name to Glaucoma Research Foundation (glaucoma.org), the Parkinson’s Foundation (Parkinson.org), Wright-Way Animal Rescue (Wright-wayrescue.org) or any other ‘No-Kill’ Animal Shelter.