Charles Irving Rothman

Charles Rothman, born May 29, 1937 left us on September 24, 2022. He was born in Brooklyn where he lived in a one-bedroom apartment with his parents and brother. That pretty much shaped who he was. He loved the Brooklyn Dodgers until they left him. He always worked in the city so his commute was always long and complicated. If you are not from NY, taking a bus, to a train, to another train, and then walking a number of blocks, is not uncommon.

When he married Sally Reis, he moved out of his family home and in with her. They lived in Queens-NY, Bergenfield-NJ, Chattanooga-Tennessee, Tenafly-NJ, and then to Tamarac-Florida where they retired in the late 90’s. These last 3 years they lived in Durham-North Carolina.

More about Dad… he’s a loving, caring man who chose to be there for his family. Not only his kids but his nieces, nephews, brother – and family, parents, and even his kid’s friends. Everyone has their stories.

• When people asked me what his hobbies were, I told them “me” – his kids were his hobbies.

• He sprained his ankle playing tennis. Thank goodness for great neighbors – who carried him home.

• He would staple the garbage bag before putting it out so the racoons wouldn’t get in (it didn’t always work)

• He taught two of my cousins how to drive and my friend how to drive a stick. I’m sure there were others, it was just something he liked to do.

• He’s a very neat man – he taught us how to organize our spaces, our life, and our minds.

• He would talk about work and let us help to solve the problems. At least that’s what we thought.

• We had many road trips – he called them vacations, I called them history classes.

• He has probably done over 1000 tax returns for his family and friends. Never asking for anything. He just wanted to help.

• As a neighbor, he was always there to help with house maintenance. He always had a hammer, a fix it tool, or a red handled wrench.

• As an uncle the role fit him like a glove.

• The family car exchange of 1975. He will never let us forgot how he got the worst end of the deal. Dad’s VW went to Uncle Harry, Uncle Harry’s car went to Grandpa Gus, And Grandpa’s blue Dodge came to us. “Old Betsy”… “The Blue Bomb” – the title speaks for itself.

• He took us to our first Star Wars movie, first Swashbuckler movie, and first Gene Wilder movie. We still quote them today.

• He was as assistant baseball coach for the teams Marc played on over the years. He always made time.

• After a day of playing in the snow he gave us a place to warm our toes… he sat on them until we could feel them again.

• His grandsons adored him.

He would be the first to admit that he had a great life, a wonderful wife of 57 years, a loving family and terrific friends. He will be missed terribly but remembered lovingly.