Edwin Michael Rosenberg

Dr. Edwin Michael Rosenberg died peacefully on December 6, 2025 at the QE II hospital in Halifax. He was the devoted husband of Victoria Hammerling Rosenberg, loving father of Tova Chaila Rosenberg, Joseph Elkanah Rosenberg, and Sarah Rebecca Rosenberg, father-in-law of Gary Lebovics and Yasmin Hana Solomonescu, and cherished grandfather of Sofia Rachel Lebovics, Jamie Hannah Lebovics, and Naomi Solomon Rosenberg.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 17, 1940, Edwin moved to Halifax to study psychiatry at Dalhousie University, graduating with his MD in 1965. After completing his residency, Edwin became a Major in the U.S. Medical Corps, where he acted as Supervisor of Psychiatric Residents at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, and as the Assistant Chief of the Biomedical Stress Research Division for the Office of the Surgeon General. He received an Army Commendation Medal in 1970 for his services. Upon his discharge, Edwin returned to Halifax where he had a long and distinguished medical career. In addition to all the patients he treated over the course of his career, Edwin helped train multiple generations of doctors and mental health professionals. Beyond running his private practice, Edwin held a number of positions at Dalhousie University, where he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry from 1970 until 1997, and at Camp Hill Hospital, where he was Chief of Psychiatry from 1975-82, and Deputy Psychiatrist-in-Chief from 1982-85. He regularly acted as an expert witness at various levels of court throughout the Atlantic provinces, including the Supreme Courts of Nova Scotia and PEI, and continued to see patients until he retired in 2024.

Edwin was a loving husband and father and a loyal and dedicated friend. He was a trusted leader in the local Jewish community, a past president of the Shaar Shalom Synagogue for whose board of governors he sat multiple times. He would regularly help lead services, and coached his children and granddaughters through their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. He was a passionate lover of music, jazz and classical in particular. A fine musician himself, he loved the jazz guitar, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of its history. He was also a skilled and patient gardener, able to cultivate roses in the harshest of Nova Scotian weather. His interests were many – reading, whisky, good food, history, wine, and pens to name only a few – and he loved sharing his enthusiasm and expertise.

Edwin possessed an immense, but gentle, wit, always quick with a joke, and never cruel. Learned and kind, he loved his family and community deeply, and was a fiercely loyal friend. He was a true mensch, and will be profoundly missed.

Edwin’s funeral will take place at Shaar Shalom Synagogue, 1981 Oxford Street, at 2:00pm Tuesday, December 9, with burial to follow at the Connaught Avenue Jewish Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to commemorate Eddie can do so by making a donation in his name to the Parkinson Society Nova Scotia.