George Rosenberg, former journalist, community leader, dies

Rosenberg, 99, died of natural causes at his home with his family, said daughter Debby Kennedy.

“George was a devoted husband and best friend who was as loving and generous with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchild as he was with his Tucson community,” said Barbara “Bobbe” Rosenberg, his wife of 70 years.

Rosenberg was managing editor of the Citizen “in its heydays of the 1950s and ’60s,” said Tony Tselentis, former editor of the newspaper, explaining that at the time it had the largest circulation in Tucson.

Although the Citizen editorial policy was conservative, Rosenberg was a staunch liberal, Tselentis said. Rosenberg began as a reporter in 1947, and also was an editorial writer. He remained at the Citizen until 1967.

Rosenberg was on the board of directors at Tucson Medical Center and “worked hard to see that all were served who were in need, despite its tight budget,” said Tselentis.

“George was a devoted baseball fan and a good friend of Bill Veeck who had brought the Cleveland Indians to Tucson for spring training,” said Tselentis. Veeck was a promoter and franchise owner of several teams including the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox.

“George also was active in promoting the Tucson Symphony, and even more so in guiding the Arizona Theatre Co. He was truly a man for all seasons,” said Tselentis.

Rosenberg was born in Rochester, New York, and attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, graduating in 1933. He then attended Bard College, Columbia University, where he majored in psychology and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1939, said Kennedy.

He served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946, and in the Air Force from 1951 to 1952 in Korea. He was awarded the Bronze Star.

Rosenberg was on the Tucson Citizens Water Advisory Council, was an administrator at St. Gregory College Preparatory School, co-founded the University of Arizona Humanities Seminars Program and was involved with the UA Poetry Center.

In 1967 he was named Tucson Man of the Year and in 1990 received a Governor’s Arts Award.

In addition to his wife, Rosenberg is survived by five children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

There will be no services.