Anita H. Rosenau

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Contributed report
Aspen, CO Colorado
April 23, 2008

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Anita H. Rosenau, an active member of the Snowmass-Aspen community for the past 33 years, died peaceably in Aspen on Sunday, April 20.

Anita was born Aug. 25, 1923, and grew up in Philadelphia, the only child of Anna and Joseph Halpern. She married her husband, Gary, in 1945, while he served with the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Anita attended undergraduate school at the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School), and was an honors major in economics. Upon graduation, she worked briefly for the War Labor Board in Philadelphia as a junior economist.

Anita later attended Temple University, in Philadelphia, where she received her Master of Arts degree in theater. For her graduate thesis she wrote an original trilogy in blank verse, “Lancelot and Guinevere.” “Guinevere,” the third play in the trilogy, became the libretto for an opera. A portion of the opera was performed at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, at Lincoln Center in New York and had its European premier at the Dubrovnik Music Festival.

Anita, a founding member of the Christian Science Society in Aspen, maintained a deep love for the Bible throughout her life, a love which inspired many of her published works. Bible characters telling their own stories in first person verse were a hallmark of Anita’s work.

Anita’s great passion was for the theater, as a patron and a playwright. There have been numerous staged readings of her plays off Broadway and in diverse venues in Colorado.

On Thursday, March 20, as part of the Hudson Reed Ensemble’s Aspen Playwrights Project, Anita Rosenau’s one-act play, “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe,” was presented at the old youth-center building in Aspen. A celebration of Anita’s life took place in conjunction with the performance.

Anita is survived by her husband, Gary, her two children, Gail Scott of Meadowbrook, Pa., and Gareth Rosenau of Takoma Park, Md., two grandchildren, Jason and Christopher Scott, and three great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Christian Science Society of Aspen-Snowmass, 734 W. Main St., Aspen, CO 81611, or a memorial gift to the Aspen Valley Medical Foundation, P.O. Box 1639, Aspen, CO 81612, or online at www.avmfaspen.org

A memorial service will take place at the Snowmass Chapel in Snowmass Village with the date and time to be announced.