After working as a hawker for some time, Abraham earned enough money to open his own general store. He picked up English quickly and perfected his rural Wisconsin accent, which allowed him to develop a better relationship with his customers. A stay-at-home mom, Celia maintained her strong Yiddish accent.
As a child, Celia was involved in an accident at the family farm’s mill, which resulted in the amputation of her left hand, leaving her unable to use anything but her thumb and forefinger. Dr. Rosenberg wrote in his memoirs:
Leon was an exemplary student. A high school valedictorian, he graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin in 1954 and received his medical degree in 1957. He interned at Presbyterian Hospital in New York before he moved to the National Laboratory. He received his doctorate from the Ministry of Health in 1959 as a research fellow.
His first marriage to Elaine Lewis ended in divorce. Surviving with his wife is his older brother Irwin, a former dean of the School of Nutritional Sciences and Policy at Tufts University. his sons, Robert Rosenberg and David Kolish. his daughters, Diana Clarke and Alexa Rosenberg; Six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
It was while at Yale University that Dr. Rosenberg led research into inherited metabolic disorders, but the very foundations of such research were skeptical of his colleagues. “Don’t be silly,” he recalled being told by a nephrologist at Yale University. “No such thing.”
Dr. Rosenberg proved him wrong. He filled his lectures with case studies of children – Steven of course, followed by Dana, Lorraine, Robbie, etc. – who showed unexplained disorders…easily treatable.
