July 19, 2019

Charles “Chip” Rosenson

Chip Rosenson comes from a family with deep roots in Southern Jewish life. His father's father emigrated from a town in Russia around the turn of the 20th century, settling in New Orleans, where his own father helped found and served as first president of a large Orthodox congregation. Chip's father's mother came from Lithuania by way of Atlanta. On his mother's side, the family arrived in Louisiana in the 1860s and established a long-running retail store in a historic Louisiana town. A relative on that side was Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman, author of the book Peace of Mind, a heritage Chip takes great pride in. His father, a Loyola and LSU graduate, became a noted authority on Louisiana real estate law and taught at Tulane.

Born on November 28, 1953, Chip grew up in New Orleans with a younger brother and sister, attending public schools and then a distinguished private school where he excelled, graduating near the top of his class. Accepted to several leading colleges, he chose Harvard, but during his time there he suffered a severe mental health crisis. He returned to New Orleans and, after treatment there did not help, his parents sent him to a psychiatric hospital in Dallas in 1975. He spent years progressing through inpatient care, a halfway house, and supported living before moving into his own North Dallas apartment. In 2000 a new medication brought a dramatic recovery that he calls a rebirth, restoring his ability to read voraciously and rebuild his life.

In the years since, Chip has become deeply involved in Jewish and civic life in Dallas. He is a respected Torah and Haftarah reader, chanting at Irving-area congregations and at Temple Emanu-El, including on Yom Kippur, and he served as Jewish chaplain at the Windsor senior living community, where he was recognized as resident of the month. He taught a young man with disabilities to become a bar mitzvah, an experience he counts among his proudest. Long active in mental health advocacy, he served on boards, won volunteer awards, co-founded and wrote a column for a consumer magazine, and trained Dallas police in crisis intervention. He wrote an autobiography about his journey to wellness and continues to champion better mental health funding in Texas.

He also honored the memory of his longtime partner, a beloved figure in the consumer community who passed away about a year before the interview.

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