Richard Burton Rosenstein M.D.

1932 - 2020

May 7, 1932 - November 25, 2020 After battling ill health for the last several years, Richard died peacefully in his home in the early morning of November 25 at the age of 88.His life began in Chicago, born on May 7, 1932, the youngest child of Morris G. and May (nee Fingold) Rosenstein. He would talk about how, in addition to his mother, he was adored by the many Rosenstein women in his family - especially his grandmother Minnie, his aunts Dorothy, Sally (Levin) and Bea (Tepper) and his two older sisters - Arlene (Hamer), who predeceased Richard in 2015, and Rhoda (Rosenthal).Knowing that he did not want the hard life of his parents who ran a small neighborhood grocery store, he was determined to become a doctor. After attending the University of Illinois undergraduate, he graduated from the University of Illinois Medical School in 1956. He did his general internship at Cincinnati General Hospital and his pediatric residency at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City and Cincinnati Children's Hospital. He initially practiced pediatrics in Cincinnati, then moved to Los Angeles in 1960 first working at Kaiser Permanente and then in private practice.In 1970 he decided to become a psychiatrist. He took a general and child psychiatry residency at USC-Los Angeles County Medical Center and psychoanalytic training at the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute. Over the next thirty years, he practiced in Encino, Brentwood, and West Los Angeles. He also was a consultant in child custody for the family court.He loved teaching and supervising psychiatry and psychoanalytic students - first at the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute, where he served as Dean, and then at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis (ICP), which he helped found in 1991 with eleven others. The latter was created to broaden the opportunity for psychoanalytic training to include non-physicians and also encourage theoretical diversity. He also taught on the clinical faculty of both UCLA and USC. His students and colleagues fondly remember him as smart, insightful, warm, kind, generous, caring, supportive, open, funny, and a mensch. His family and friends share those feelings.After retiring from private practice in 2005, he worked for a few years at a job he loved at the L.A. County Women's Jail in Lynnwood until his health began to limit him. He felt that he could really help the women as both a psychiatrist and a physician.During Richard's junior year of medical school at the end of January 1955, he took the advice of a friend who told him that he "met this girl. She's too young for me but perfect for you." Carolyn Kaiman, from Des Moines, Iowa, was a freshman at Northwestern University. They had a blind date, fell in love, and were married in June in Chicago. Their three children - Wendy, Mark, and Jonathan - were born over the next four years.While busy with his professional life, Richard was a very loving father. He was very generous and enjoyed vacations or visits with Wendy, Mark and his wife Sue, and his grandchildren Rachel, Matthew, Kaitlin, Sarah, and Joe. He was very proud of his grandchildren - encouraging and helping them to pursue their passions. He was very happy and welcoming of their relationships and additions to the family - Rachel Gaskins, Alec Ellis, Molly Satterwhite, and Matthew and Rachel's two great-grandsons Noah Richard and Benjamin Matthew. They are all very sad at his loss. Richard loved physical activity: jogging, sailing, skiing, bicycling, and most of all in retirement until his ill health prevented him - golfing. He loved listening to books on Audible and discussing them with friends and neighbors. He loved movies, the theatre, music, and sharing meals with friends. He was happy that he got to vote and that Biden won. And, the Dodgers won the World Series.He is greatly mourned by Carolyn, his loving wife of over 65 years, his sister Rhoda, children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, extended family, and many friends and colleagues. Everyone who knew him has commented about his gift of connecting with them. His family is so grateful for the loving care that he received the last year in his home from caregivers Francis Sambo and Gale Quijano, and the staff of Vitas Healthcare for home hospice care the last nine months. They also thank his many doctors. Richard will be laid to rest at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills in a private service.In memory of Richard, donations may be made to the progressive cause of your choice, but would be especially appreciated to help win the January 5 Georgia Senate race (electjon.com and warnockforgeorgia.com).