Harriet Rosen

Harriet packed an enormous amount of love, purpose, and generosity of spirit into her 99 years. Standing 5-feet-1-and-¾ inches, she always set high bars for herself – and for others.

She graduated from Hunter College at 19 (despite skipping class many Fridays to attend Ladies Day at Yankee Stadium with her best friend). She studied business, French, Russian, and German, as well as some Yiddish (so she could understand what her relatives were gossiping about). She loved travel, theatre, music, and art, and was a true aficionado of the art and science of words, especially those of Shakespeare, Sondheim, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

A copywriter by profession, she ran several ad agencies and co-owned a local newspaper, and remained a passionate writer of essays and letters to the editor in retirement. A lifelong learner, she took up songwriting in her 60s, hosted a radio show in her 70s, started a blog in her 80s, and took classes into her 90s. (She also tried innumerable times to teach herself bridge.)

Harriet lived life largely on her own terms. She wore blue jeans earlier, and got married and had kids later, than most of her peers. And she was much more at home perusing drill bits in a hardware store than bakeware anywhere. She always took the time to say hello, goodbye, and please and thank you. She did not suffer fools gladly, and hated tattoos, but grew more tolerant of both in her later years. She loved Katharine Hepburn, Ella Fitzgerald, crossword puzzles, red roses, Texas wieners, pasta carbonara, and pie.

She believed in this country and the promise of what it could and should be. She was an air-raid warden in the Bronx during WWII and a fiercely proud progressive who marched on Washington in 1963. She organized for the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern, and remained active in the Green Party until quite recently. Her Elizabeth Warren action figure held pride of place in her apartment, but she unhesitatingly cast her vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (and to legalize marijuana) in November.

Harriet’s husband of 58 years, Arthur, died in 2009; her younger sister, Lenore, died this June. She is survived by her children, Larry and Barbara Rosen; son-in-law Tom Buerkle, and grandchildren Julia and Ted Buerkle. Her family is deeply grateful to so many whose care, affection and respectful support helped her live a full life right up until her time to go, especially Miriam Benoff; Linda Emr and her staff at the Daughters of Miriam Apartments in Clifton, NJ; Christopher Irobunda; Ada Weiss; Dora Castaneda; Dorothy Millwood; Rosemary Valdez, and Maria Mercado.

A celebration of Harriet’s life will be held when it is possible to gather in person. In the meantime, donations can be made in her name to: Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Doctors Without Borders, or the ACLU.