David Hersch Rosenthal Jr.

David Hersch Rosenthal, Jr., passed away peacefully on July 8, 2023, just sixteen days shy of his 103rd birthday. He was born in San Jose on July 24, 1920, the only child of Eve Rosenthal and David H. Rosenthal, Sr.. David was born prematurely, and the doctor gave him a "50-50" chance of surviving, a comment that delighted David as he lived to be over 100 years old. David experienced an idyllic childhood, honing his small arms marksmanship in the rural areas outside of San Jose and earning money washing and waxing cars even in the midst of the Depression. He and his parents vacationed summers at the Venetian Court in Capitola, and David sold newspapers in the morning, saving at least a dime every day. When he was ten, he attended a military school for boys in Menlo Park. His time there encouraged David's innate sense of self-discipline and moderation, developing also what would be an abiding interest in police work. As a teenager, David worked in his father's drycleaning business, occasionally treating himself to a 35 cent lunch at the Bachelor's Grill. In 1938, he enrolled at San Jose State University in a degree called "Police Science," the first of its kind in the nation. But soon a U.S. Marine Corps recruiting poster, promising "travel, adventure, and education," caught David's eye, and he enlisted in the USMC Reserve, more than a year before the U.S. entered World War II. David graduated from both college and the USMC's Basic School in 1941 and became an active duty Marine in April of 1942. David was stationed in Wellington, New Zealand, and one day, he saw a beautiful young woman in a cafe window and fell in love immediately. He later approached her at a Jewish community dance that she attended with another date - suffice to say, David won her over. Marion and her family were Jewish refugees who had fled Europe in 1940, and after they married, David eventually brought his new bride, her parents, and her sister to the Bay Area. David was given command of a company in the Second Marine Division. Captain Rosenthal led his company in the liberation of Guam on July 21, 1944, an experience that forever defined his life. While on Guam, David studied Naval Courts and Boards for over a year, which led to being appointed Judge Advocate, and he earned a reputation as a compassionate and effective arbiter of justice.After the war, David worked as a police officer in Palo Alto, but due to his business acumen (and the low pay of police work at the time), he began working in his father's business. After his father's death in 1957, David assumed the business, establishing many dry-cleaning branches all over the south bay. He and Marion had three children, and the business and his family thrived. In 1972, David retired, and he and Marion traveled all around the country towing a travel trailer, going as far south as Mexico City and as far north as Montreal. In 1985, David sadly lost the first love of his life when she succumbed to lung cancer. David later married the second love of his life, Muriel, and they enjoyed many years of travel, sailing on cruises, participating in Elderhostel, and spending long weekends at the Marine's Memorial Hotel in San Francisco. David and Muriel were a very romantic and handsome couple, and they vacationed every fall on Oahu at the Hale Koa Hotel and every spring in Palm Springs. Between them, David and Muriel shared six adult children, and in 1990, David's one and only grandchild was born. David adopted the role of Grampy as if born to it, enjoying his granddaughter's life at a toddler class at Cabrillo College when she was just a year old, visiting colleges when she was a high school senior, attending her college graduation, and helping her move to graduate school. He was present in her life almost to the end of his own, and everyone who knew David knew how much he loved his granddaughter. David believed in the power of education to transform lives, and throughout his life, he helped many people realize their potential. He said that once acquired, a person's education was theirs always, and he especially enjoyed helping people who wanted to enter professional trades. In the early 1970s, Davd volunteered as an instructor at San Quentin and Soledad prisons, teaching prisoners dry cleaning skills. More than once, he hired his former students when they became parolees. No matter what type of education they needed, David admired people who could articulate and then achieve their goals.David was very proud of his USMC service, and in his later years, he greatly enjoyed the camaraderie of veterans in the Marine Corp League and the Military Officers Association of America. In 2014, while trying to find surviving members of his 1941 Basic School class, David met members of the class of 1976, who "adopted" him since only one other Marine remained of David's original class. David also volunteered with the Department of Veteran Affairs for over ten years, driving veterans from Santa Cruz to the Palo Alto VA Hospital until he was 89. David almost always wore a USMC hat, and he loved talking to veterans of all branches of the military.Throughout his life, David supported Jewish, veteran, and social justice organizations, including Planned Parenthood, NAACP, National Holocaust Museum, Disabled Veterans of America, B'Nai B'Rith, Santa Cruz Homeless Shelter, US Naval Academy, Southern Poverty Law Center, Marine Military Academy, and Santa Cruz County Tobacco Education Coalition, to name just a few. He was a member of Temple Beth El's Brotherhood, and he attended its monthly meetings as often as possible, appreciating the lox and bagel brunch as much as the guest speakers.David enjoyed physically robust health for most of his life, his only complaint diminishing eyesight due to macular degeneration. But he just switched from reading books to listening to them, and loyally followed Bob Brinker's MoneyTalk radio program. He read the Wall Street Journal every day for most of his adult life, and when his eyesight began to fail, Muriel read sections to him on their balcony over breakfast. David loved martinis (gin, of course, with one olive and one onion, no thank-you to water - "it rusts the pipes"), crab, lobster, trout, lamb chops, anything with corn, and everything from a deli. David enjoyed treating people to dinner, and he was always game to try new restaurants, especially if cioppino was on the menu. Throughout his long, fulfilling, and loving life, David embraced many mottos: be prepared; look at life through rose-colored glasses; always have reserves behind the reserves; everything in moderation. And to the very end of his life, he said he was the luckiest guy in the world. David is predeceased by both his first wife of forty-one years, Marion, and his second wife of thirty-seven years, Muriel. He is survived by his three children, Adrian, Judy, and Chick; his daughter-in-law, Robyn; his son-in-law, Dany; his beloved granddaughter, Marina, and her husband Zach; two great-grandchildren, Keller and Zelda; three step-children, Claudia, Shane, and Melissa; his sister-in-law, Trudy, and two nephews, Dennis and Brian. David will be interred on September 1, 2023, at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California.Semper Fi, Captain Rosenthal.