Rose Leah Broch

Rose Broch (née Hecht) was born on March 1, 1925, in Milwaukee Wisconsin to Bertha and Louis Hecht. Her parents, who had immigrated to the United States shortly before Rose's birth, were devout, observant Jews who spoke only Yiddish to Rose and her younger siblings. Because of her upbringing, Rose did not speak any English until she was sent to school at age 5; her teacher thought her to be mentally limited because she had trouble understanding the lessons.

As a teenager, Rose seemed to disavow her orthodox upbringing. She became involved in Hashomer Hatzair and informally adopted the Hebrew name Shoshana. When her children were grown, she worked for Americans for Progressive Israel and Hashomer Hatzair as a bookkeeper. She was ahead of her time in many ways, including her feminist beliefs and her involvement in the workforce.

Rose received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin—Madison in 1949. She was always so proud of her time spent living in an interracial dorm and the exposure to the larger world that her college education provided. After graduating she moved east to Princeton, New Jersey, where she lived in a boarding house in a room recently vacated by the author Hermann Broch. When she later moved to New York City, she met a younger Herman Broch, whom she married in 1952. By 1960, they had relocated to Brooklyn, where they lived until 2001 when their declining health necessitated a move to North Carolina, to be cared for by their youngest daughter, Debbie.

Rose's interests were varied, and she is remembered as a compassionate person who cared deeply for others. She was ecstatic with the outcome of the 2020 election and continued to worry about the long-term impacts of climate change in her final days.

An avid reader, her Kindle provided her hours of reading even though legally blind. When her eyesight failed even further, she turned to audiobooks for her much-needed literary fixes. Fortunate to have her cognitive abilities to the very end, we will never know if it was the crossword puzzles she did for so many years or good genes that allowed her 96 years of mental acuity.

Rose was predeceased by her parents and her sister, Batya Friedman. She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Herman Broch, her children Elana (Steve Panter), Daniel (Lauren), and Debbie Weiss (Michael) and grandchildren Ben, Julia, Noah, Josh, Eli, and Emma; brother, Mordechai Hecht, and sister, Toby Weiselthier. Her amazing caregivers provided fantastic care and much-needed contact over the past decade as Herman's worsening dementia prevented him from communicating.

Memorial donations can be made to Hashomer Hatzair, Doctors Without Borders, or an organization of the donor's choosing.