Julia K. Rosenwald, 101, of Elkins Park, civic volunteer and quiet philanthropist
The key to Mrs. Rosenwald's long life was the many friends she made and kept for years. They were of all ages and backgrounds.
Julia K. Rosenwald, 101, of Elkins Park, a longtime civic volunteer and quiet philanthropist, died June 1 of old age in the family house where she had lived since 1947.
The key to her longevity was her many friends, said Mrs. Rosenwald's daughter, Linda Levy. "She was the most connected person I ever met. She made and kept friends of every age. They were from all walks of life and around the world."
Mrs. Rosenwald married into a prominent Philadelphia family. Her husband, Julius "Dooley" Rosenwald II, was the grandson of the founder of Sears Roebuck, also named Julius Rosenwald. Her father-in-law, Lessing Rosenwald, was a collector of rare books and art, and many of his treasures were donated to the Library of Congress.
While Mrs. Rosenwald's husband supported public philanthropic ventures, such as the creation of the University City Science Center, Mrs. Rosenwald took the private route to giving, responding when someone needed help.
"She supported her alma mater, Sarah Lawrence," said her daughter. "She put a roof on a house for someone."
Active in civic life, she served on many boards of directors, but told her family she was particularly proud of her efforts, starting in the 1960s, for the Federation of Jewish Agencies (now the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia), the Child Study Center of Philadelphia, and the New York-based Child Welfare League of America.
In the 1980s and 1990s, she volunteered as a tutor at the Conwell Middle School in Kensington, helping pupils who were struggling to read. Many of the children she tutored became her friends for life, her daughter said.
As the Rosenwalds traveled worldwide, she made lasting ties with those she met. "She made an impression on people," said her daughter. "This was who she was – she really loved people."
Known to friends as Judy, Mrs. Rosenwald was born in Philadelphia in 1916, four years after the sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage from England to America, and four years before women won the right to vote.
She graduated from Cheltenham High School and attended Sarah Lawrence College in the late '30s, although she had to return home to care for a family member before graduating. She married Rosenwald in 1938.
She soon became a Philadelphia institution, said one of her friends, Inquirer foreign affairs columnist Trudy Rubin.
"She was a great lady and had an amazing circle of friends and contacts in the city," Rubin said. Among them were Ralph Roberts, founder of Comcast, and his wife, Suzanne Roberts, and Rene d'Harnoncourt, longtime director of the Museum of Modern Art, in New York.
Rubin said that d'Harnoncourt took Mrs. Rosenwald, then a college student, to meet Diego Rivera and his wife, Frida Kahlo, both artists, in Mexico City.
"When she admired Kahlo's petticoat, Frida stripped it off and gave it to her," Rubin said.
The Rosenwalds vacationed on Martha's Vineyard starting in the 1930s, and built a summer home in Chilmark in 1963. Mrs. Rosenwald made visits to the vacation house until 2014.
Her husband, a World War II veteran and outdoorsman, died in 2003.
Besides her daughter Linda, she is survived by children Karen Gundersheimer and Julius Rosenwald III; five grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; a half-brother; and her friend and caregiver, Darlene Paige.
Plans for a memorial service were pending.