Werner H. Von Rosenstiel

Von ROSENSTIEL, Werner H. a 97 year old German born attorney, passed away quietly in his sleep on July 6, 2008. Before coming to St. Petersburg in 1989, Mr. Von Rosenstiel had built an extraordinary career as a German-American attorney, lecturer, writer and philanthropist. He was born in Germany in 1911, into a wealthy Prussian family. After his enrollment in German law school, he came to the University of Cincinnati as an exchange student in 1936. From his new American vantage point, he was appalled to realize the extent to which Hitler was trampling human rights in his native country. He returned to Germany to finish law school and upon graduating at the top of his class, this newly minted Germany lawyer managed to get to the United States in 1939. Soon thereafter he married Marion Ahrens and started law school all over again at Fordham University. When WWII broke out, Von Rosenstiel, determined to help his newly found country, enlisted in the US Army. However he was treated as a suspicious enemy alien by US authorities and assigned to laundry and KP duty for many months before his potential value to the army was recognized. Given the proper opportunity, he made a distinguished contribution as the only lawyer in the US army certified in American and German law. His hard work and expertise contributed immeasurably to writing the legal documents for the Nuremburg trials and acting as a German translator. From the trials he learned lessons about the protection of human rights that he carried with him for the rest of his life. Following WWII, Mr. Von Rosenstiel spent 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, using his legal talents in the advertising. In 1971, at the age of 60, he left the pharmaceutical industry and opened his own solo law practice, where he worked until 1990, with his daughter Martha, also an attorney. Following the death of his first wife, he married Anne Von Rosenstiel in 1989, and moved to St. Petersburg. He quickly developed a deep interest in the intellectual and academic growth of south Florida. He served as a lecturer at the University of South Florida on topics related to human rights and war crimes. He was deeply involved in marine science projects at the Marine Science Institute and brought history and science together in a lecture entitled "Noah's Ark and the Yellow Submarine." In 2002, he received the University of South Florida's President's Medallion Award. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Cincinnati in 2004, in recognition of his writings and his commitment to human rights. He published his memoirs entitled "Hitler's Soldier in the U.S. Army," which graphically depicted his struggles, experiences and contributions to American's war effort. He is survived by his wife, Anne Von Rosenstiel and 4 children from his first marriage, Helene, Paul, Liza and Martha, plus 4 grandchildren. Memorial Service at First Presbyterian Church. 701 Beach Drive, St. Petersburg, 11 am, Saturday, July 12. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that contributions in his memory be made to: USF Foundation/Werner Von Rosenstiel Scholarship, c/o Betzer, 1830 7th St. N, St. Petersburg, FL 33704. This fellowship honoring Werner Von Rosenstiel would support a graduate student whose scientific accomplishments justify being selected to collaborate with scientists and engineers of SRI St. Petersburg, a group that is particularly well equipped to accelerate scientific/technical applications. The student so selected would be a graduate scholar in USF's College of Marine Science who is poised to apply a scientific and/or technical breakthrough to benefit society.