April 9, 2015

Rosalie Budnoff

Rosalie was born in 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father sold printing and stationery supplies and had once been a partner in his company, while her mother, born in Russia and brought to America around age three, left school at fourteen to help her poor family. Rosalie grew up in a three family house owned by her uncle and remembered lively Passover seders with her mother's four sisters. Though the family lived through the Great Depression, she never felt deprived. She attended the demanding Girls Latin School in Boston, commuting an hour each way, and then enrolled at Radcliffe College, part of Harvard, during World War II.

Rosalie met her first husband, Jack Meltzer, a Yale student, through an intercollegiate organization, and they married about a year after she graduated. Following Jack's career, the couple lived in Maine, then Cleveland, and returned to Boston before moving to Dallas in 1967, arriving as the city grew rapidly with the spread of air conditioning. Her oldest child was born in Boston and the next two in Cleveland. After her first marriage ended in divorce, she met her second husband, Irving Budnoff, at a Jewish sponsored dance. Irving worked in the wholesale salad and vegetable business. Later, after Irving's death, she shared ten happy years with Israel Burger, a retired radiologist.

In Dallas, Rosalie completed her social work degree at Arlington, graduating in its first class, and worked for years with the Dallas City dental health program before doing consulting work. She has always been active in the Jewish community, serving on committees and boards and belonging to the National Council of Jewish Women and Hadassah. A love of music, sparked by attending Boston Symphony youth concerts in grade school, has stayed with her throughout her life, and she continues to attend the Dallas Symphony and the opera. Rosalie has three children, eight biological grandchildren, and two step grandchildren.

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