Rosalee Glass

Rosalee Glass (née Raisla Talerman) (January 28, 1917 — December 14, 2019) was an American businesswoman, drapery manufacturer,^[1] actress,^[2] and star of the award-winning documentary film Reinventing Rosalee. Born in Warsaw, Poland, she survived the Holocaust.^[1][3][2]

Personal

Early life

As a teenager she had a successful shirt making business where she sold men's shirts for shops around Warsaw.^[1] She met and married violinist Abraham Glass.^[1]

During World War 2 she and Abraham were kidnapped to Siberia where she lost two of her infants, Elias & Perla, due to starvation. Only one child, Manny, survived.^[1]

Family

After the war, Rosalee, Abraham, and young Manny relocated to the United States and settled in Miami, Florida where Rosalee used her sewing talents to create a successful drapery manufacturing business.^[1] A year after arriving in Miami, Rosalee gave birth to daughter Lillian Glass.^[4]

Upon Rosalee's retirement from her drapery business, she and Abraham moved to California to be closer to their daughter Lillian.^[4] After Abraham died at the age of 90, and son Manny passed from a medical malpractice within 3 years of each other, Rosalee fell into a depression from the doubled loss in her immediate family that she decided to move in with her daughter Lillian.^[1]

Finally Rosalee had an epiphany: "believing that it's never too late to live your dream^[5]."

Career

She had adventures all over the world, wrote a book of her original sayings, became an actress where she starred in a Super Bowl commercial,^[6][4] and wrote with sled dogs at the age of 100.

Her daughter Lillian Glass documented their adventures in a heartwarming mother-daughter film called Reinventing Rosalee.^[7] The film screened at 90 film festivals around the world and won 57 awards worldwide.^[8]

White House

In 2019, Rosalee was invited to the White House where she was honored for being one of the oldest Holocaust survivors.^[2] There was a flag flown over the capitol in her honor. On her way to the plane she suffered injuries leading to her death that were sustained due to being dropped accidentally by the airport staff. She was 2 weeks shy of her 103rd birthday.^[2]