H EADLINES
Car Dealership Owner Don Rosen Dies at 81
OB ITUARY
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
DONALD M. ROSEN, owner
of a successful group of car
dealerships and a committed
supporter of Jewish organi-
zations in Philadelphia and
Israel, died in his home on Oct.

18 at the age of 81, surrounded
by family.

According to his eldest
daughter, Lynne Rosen, that’s
how he spent his life, too. Her
father’s “incredible ethic of
family,” she said, was perhaps
his defi ning feature, and the
one that’s been passed down to
his children and grandchildren.

“He especially enjoyed seeing
the family grow, spending time
with new babies and attending
graduations and weddings,” the
Rosen family said in a state-
ment. “If there was a celebration,
Don was involved, and wanted
everyone to have a great time
together. He was well known
for planning the most elaborate
celebrations, always the life of the
party which included surprises
to entertain his guests.”
Rosen was born in Philadelphia
on Nov. 1, 1938, to Reuben and
Tallu Rosen. Th e Temple graduate
made his way to the automobile
business in 1979, when he opened
up his fi rst dealership, selling the
car with which his name would
come to be most closely associ-
ated: Cadillacs. Rosen’s name
was followed by “Cadillac” and
other vehicle brands for so long
that Philadelphia-area car buyers
could be forgiven for thinking
that he and his wife had chosen
to hyphenate.

Rosen’s fi rst wife, Debra
(Gaye) Rosen, died of cancer
in 1989; together, they had fi ve
children. Rosen met his second
Don Rosen
Don Rosen, front and center,
with family
Courtesy of the Rosen family
wife, Roni (Pomerantz) Rosen,
at a party on the Jersey shore,
and they were married for 23
years. Together, they raised her
two children from a previous
marriage. Brett Pomerantz,
who ended up working for his
stepfather, remembers how odd
it seemed that his mother was
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dating Don Rosen.

“My neck kind of snapped
back,” Pomerantz recalls. “I
go, ‘Car guy, Don Rosen? Like,
Don Rosen Don Rosen?’”
Rosen’s larger-than-life
personality, as Lynne Rosen
describes it, preceded him.

“He just had this presence,”
she said. “When he walked
into a room, you knew he was
walking into a room ... His
playfulness, his ability to make
people laugh. He just wanted to
make people happy. And he’d
go to great lengths to do that.”
One method that never
failed to delight the family
was when Rosen would put on
a goofy costume; one recent
turn as an Eagles cheerleader,
according to Brett Pomerantz,
was particularly memorable.

“He was not a good-looking
woman,” Pomerantz said with
a laugh. “And he owned it, and
like, loved it.”
At his 70th birthday, all the
attendees dressed up as diff erent
versions of Don Rosen.

“We may not be the life of
the party in the way that Dad
was,” Lynne Rosen said, “but
there’s ways that we have that
kind of enthusiasm in life that
he passed along.”
Rosen loved to travel with
his family, and was a regular
in Ventnor, New Jersey, and
Jupiter, Florida. On a family
trip to Israel to celebrate his
contributions to Technion –
Israel Institute of Technology,
the Rosen family ran into boxer
and senator of the Philippines
Manny Pacquiao at a mall, who
took a picture with Don Rosen,
as Brett Pomerantz frames it.

Rosen dedicated himself
to a lifetime of support for
Jewish causes. His father and
uncle established the Maurice
and Ruben Rosen Solid State
Institute Building at Technion
in 1976, and Rosen stayed
involved with Technion for
decades. Over the years, Rosen
has supported the Abramson
Center for Jewish Life (where
he was a board member), the
American Technion Society,
JAFCO Jewish Children’s
Village, the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia and many
other charitable organizations.

His warm personality was
found in that arena as well; at a
charity golf tournament that he
organized, Rosen was torched
on the course by none other
than golf legend Jack Nicklaus,
who let everyone to whom he’d
given helpful tips know that
Rosen was beyond help. Th at
story was one that Rosen was
happy to tell over and over.

Rosen is survived by
his wife, Roni; his children,
David, Lynne, Julie, Daniel
and Donna; his stepchildren,
Blair and Brett; 12 grandchil-
dren; one great-grandson; and
several nieces and nephews. ●
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
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