Received from Rabbi Ed Stafman in Bozeman, today:

As I announced with sadness a few days ago, our congregation lost a giant of Bozeman’s Jewish community, Stanley Rosenberg, last week.  Stanley passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 26, with his son, Archie, at his side.  For any who might not know, Stanley was the spiritual leader of Bozeman’s Jewish community since its inception until it finally had a rabbi. Stanley performed and lead weddings, b’nei mitzvah, baby namings and much more. Stanley not only served the Bozeman Jewish community for some 20 years, but he represented us with honor and dignity in the interfaith community. All of Stanley’s life was lived in the name of greater shalom, peace and shalem, wholeness.

Many have asked about plans for a memorial service.  In order to accommodate the many family members from distant places who wish to attend, the memorial service will take place on Sunday, March 18, at 3:00 p.m., in the sanctuary of Congregation Beth Shalom.

In the meanwhile, we said kaddish for Stanley this past Friday night and will continue to say kaddish for him at every service over the next year.  All are welcome to participate in that.

Zichrono livracha (may his memory be a blessing),

Rabbi Ed

Obituary from Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

Stanley Gerson Rosenberg (1924-2012)

Stanley Gerson Rosenberg, 87, passed away Jan. 26, 2012, at his home in Bozeman.

Stan was a founding member of Congregation Beth Shalom where he served as a lay Rabbi for some fifteen years, during which he performed many rituals and led many celebrations, and where he especially promoted interfaith dialogue, cooperation, and peace. He was a member of numerous community organizations including Career Transitions, Big Brother and Big Sisters, The United Way, and The Gallatin Valley Interfaith Association, which he helped found. He served as a board member of Valley View Golf Course, and Chair of the Ethics Committee of Gallatin Rest Home. He was also an avid booster of MSU women’s athletics.

Stan was born June 20, 1924 in Philadelphia, Pa. to Esther (Binder) and Barney Rosenberg. He attended Philadelphia public school and graduated in 1942. After graduation, Stan worked as a butcher’s apprentice and ship fitter’s helper. He entered the Army in January 1943, and was assigned to the 312th combat engineers, 87th infantry division. He was sent to England and France, and almost immediately was in combat. He eventually participated in the battle of Belgium during the bulge. His unit then went through Germany and crossed the Rhine River at Boppard Am Rhein, not stopping until the border of Germany and Czechoslovakia, where he witnessed the liberation of a concentration camp. After the war, Stan returned to Pennsylvania.

Stan enrolled at what was then Williamsport Dickinson Junior College and Seminary, where he majored in sociology and anthropology. In his junior year, Stan met and married Dorothy Cohick, who was majoring in library science. They both finished their degrees in 1950 at Denver University.

Stan eventually was a principal/teacher of a one-room boarding school with 35 Indian students, half of whom did not speak English, on the Navajo Reservation, at Kayenta, Ariz. Stan and Dorothy adopted a two-month-old baby boy, Archie, from the Clinton Indian Hospital, in Clinton, Okla.

Stan later transferred to Pueblo Pintado, N.M., where he once again taught at a one-room school of 35 Indian students, half of whom did not speak English. Dorothy taught with Stan. The following year, Stan was transferred to Aneth, Utah, where he taught at a two-teacher school. Stan was later a community health worker with the Indian Health Service in Shiprock, N.M., where he set up well-children clinics, involving medicine men and other community leaders in those clinics.

He later earned his master’s degree at the University of California, Berkley, School of Public Health. He was then recruited to participate in a Pap smear program in St. Louis, Ill. While in St. Louis, Stan and Dorothy adopted six-year-old Jeffrey, from Italy. Thereafter, Stan was assigned to the Heart Disease Control Program with the New Jersey State Department of Health. His next assignment was in Rutland, Massachusetts, in patient/family education at a long-term care hospital. Stan later took jobs of Assistant Director Office of Education and Training with the Hill-Burton Program, the Nursing Home Improvement Program, and the Nursing Home Surveyors Training Program, where he remained until his retirement in 1978.

Stan received numerous honors for his work in public health. He was a Distinguished Fellow of the Society of Public Health Educators and Fellow of the American Public Health Association. Stan received three master’s degrees and an honorary doctorate.

Stan and Dorothy moved to Montana for Stan to accept a position as an adjunct professor with the School of Nursing at Montana State University. Four years later, Stan left the university and devoted the next 30 years to community involvement and to Bozeman Jewish and interfaith life.

In 1998, his wife Dorothy, of almost 50 years passed away, at which time Stan set up a memorial fund at MSU in his wife’s honor for women’s athletics.

In September 1999, Stan married the lovely June Goldstein Bollet, who passed away last December.

Stan is survived by his sons, Archie of Norman, Okla., and Jeffery of Bozeman; four grandchildren, Melissa Lynn Wallace, Briane Pearl Rosenberg, A’Lexxis Preciosa Rosenberg, of Okla., and Britney Rosenberg of Bozeman; and four great-grandchildren, Ashlynn Lauren Wallace, Peyton Mackenzie Wallace, Mason Nicole Wallace, of Oklahoma, and Kylie Thompson of Bozeman.

Stan told his Rabbi, his doctor, and friends that he had lived a good, long, and fruitful life, and that is what he wished to be remembered for.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. March 18 at Congregation Beth Shalom, Bozeman. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorials be made to Congregation Beth Shalom.

Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service, http://www.dokkennelson.com.

Published in Bozeman Daily Chronicle on January 31, 2012