Celia Rosenthal

Celia Rosenthal (nee Ramírez) of Carmichael was born at home in Guadalajara, Mex., on Dec. 9th 1940 and she passed away, also at home, on June 11th 2020, making her not quite 80 years old at time of passing. She had been afflicted with multiple ailments for a number of years. Her parents, both deceased, were Rubén Ramírez and Rosaura Lopez.

Celia enjoyed her childhood in Mexico but immigrated to the US at about the age of 16 when her mother married an American citizen. She still went to Tijuana frequently where her best friend’s father operated the bull ring, and she and her friend had great fun cavorting around the premises during events and were occasionally drafted to sell peanuts to the patrons.

As a young adult she became a beautician and enjoyed her employment at a shop on Coronado Island (San Diego), where her customers were often senior Navy officers’ wives.

Celia met her husband of 52 years, Stephen Rosenthal of Wisconsin, at a Navy officers’ club bachelor officers’ dance in San Diego, and he survives her. They have three children, daughter Karine Rosenthal (husband Robert Fisher) of Los Angeles, and son Brian Rosenthal and daughter Laura Rosenthal, both of Sacramento. She is also survived by one grandson, Joseph Fisher, a number of nephews and nieces including one, Irene Felley, who helped her greatly in her later years, and three half-sisters in Mexico one of whom, Delia Salas, kept in close contact with Celia. She was predeceased by an infant brother and two sisters.

Celia and Stephen first lived in the San Fernando Valley where she attended Junior College, then in Minneapolis for 12 years, and finally in Carmichael since 1984. She made fast friends in all three locations.

Over the years Celia enjoyed and became adept at various crafts including macramé, glass jewelry, throwing pots, gardening (she once had about 500 potted plants), and in recent years quilting. Two close friends from her quilting group, Nela Hammel and Rebeca Barba, survive her.

The family thanks the great care she received from her primary doctor of over 30 years, Henry Chang, MD, as well as other doctors and staff at Mercy San Juan Medical Center and Mercy Medical Group, San Juan. We are also thankful for the kind assistance for her rendered by Eva Olivares over the last several years, as well as the recent care from Snowline Hospice and services of and arrangements by Reichert’s Funeral and Cremation Services, and this remembrance will be available on their website.

Celia attended Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Carmichael. Due to current gathering size restrictions and family availability, she will be interred at a later date, perhaps around Labor Day, at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, CA. For anyone wishing to receive information on the future committal service once it is planned, they can so indicate by email to: [email protected].

The family misses her greatly.