Roselle Benjamin Fine

Roselle Benjamin Fine, 99, of Clarks Summit, beloved wife of the late Attorney Louis A. Fine, died May 5, 2013.

She was born in Hazleton to Anna and Sol Benjamin, but lived most of her life in the Scranton/Clarks Summit area. Her father was a pioneer in surface mining of anthracite coal and in 1918 founded the Benjamin Coal Company, which in the 1970s and 1980s was the largest producer of surface-mined coal in Pennsylvania, as well as one of the largest privately-operated coal companies in the United States.

Roselle graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University in 1935, with a major in English and a minor in music. In January of 1936 she and Louis A. Fine were married at the St. Moritz Hotel in New York City by Rabbi Stephen Wise and were together for 61 years until his death in 1997. She was an accomplished pianist, who in her early years played many recitals at the Everhart Museum and Century Club.

For many years she devoted herself to volunteer work in Scranton, in aid of the Scranton Philharmonic Orchestra, Planned Parenthood and the Temple Hesed Sisterhood, of which she was a past president. In the 1950s she expanded her activities to include the development of Fern Cove Cottage Colony, a family resort and import gift shop at Lake Wallenpaupack in the Poconos. It was a project that she devoted more than 40 years to, traveling on a regular basis to all continents of the world in search of unique items not readily available in this country at the time.

She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society; a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority; a lifetime member of Hadassah; a lifelong member of Temple Hesed and its predecessor, Madison Avenue Temple; a member of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Fla.; an honorary member of the Glen Oak Country Club, the Honesdale Golf Club and the Lake Wallenpaupack Yacht Club.

The surviving members of her devoted family include her daughter, Barbara F. Karchmer and husband, Dr. A. W. Karchmer, of Weston, Mass.; her son, Attorney Richard G. Fine and wife, Carole B. Fine, of Clarks Summit; her sister, Charlotte Morris of Altoona; eight grandchildren; 16 great- grandchildren; and seven nieces and nephews.

Her brother, David Benjamin, preceded her in death.

The funeral service will be led by Rabbi Daniel Swartz at Temple Hesed, 1 Knox Road, Scranton, on Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 1 p.m. The family will receive friends at Temple Hesed from 11:45 a.m. until 12:45 p.m with the service beginning promptly at 1 p.m. Interment will be at Temple Hesed Cemetery, Dunmore, following the service.

Condolence calls will be received at the residence of Carole and Richard Fine, 108 Overlook Road, Clarks Summit, on Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Friday from 1 to 4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Temple Hesed, 1 Knox Road, PA 18505 or to the donor's favorite charity.

Arrangements by Carlucci-Golden-Desantis Funeral Home, Dunmore.

For further information or to offer an online condolence, please visit www.Dunmore FuneralHome.com.