Ronald L. Rosenbaum Obituary

Distinguished bilingual real estate attorney Ronald Leslie Rosenbaum passed away on December 8th at his home in Boynton Beach, Florida. Ronald was born March 20, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York to Sophie and Hyman Rosenbaum, at a time when taking the trolley in the city only cost a nickel.

He attended Franklin K. Lane High School and later Queens College majoring in economics. He went on to enroll in Columbia University School of Law serving as a member of the school’s prestigious law review and graduating summa cum laude in 1960.

Upon graduation, Ron clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Carmine Zavatt in New York before joining the firm of Kaye Scholer, now Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP.  In 1962 he married Barbara Dickman at the Huntington Town House on Long Island. He is survived by their two children Claudia, an attorney and journalist, and Anna, a neurologist. 

In 1967, Ron accepted an offer from the law firm of Baker & Woods located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Despite having only a rudimentary understanding of the language, Ron studied and passed the bar in Spanish on his first attempt. Besides mastering Spanish, he also taught himself and spoke fluent French. He went on to be a founding partner at Woods & Rosenbaum and later formed his own law firm specializing in real estate law.   

Ron immersed himself in the culture of the island, joining Temple Beth Shalom and the local theater group, the Civic Theater of San Juan. He enjoyed playing tennis at the Caribe Hilton and golf at Palmas Del Mar. He also enjoyed traveling and was proud of the fact that he had visited most of the countries of the world.  For reasons unknown, he decided early in life to be a devotee to all things Cleveland – the Cleveland Indians, the Cleveland Browns, and Ohio State, and attended many games. 

In 1973, Ron married Carolyn Boren, an attorney in Puerto Rico. They later divorced after which he married Marlene Gallegos. He will be remembered with love by his family…wife Marlene Gallegos, children Anna and Claudia Rosenbaum, stepson Adam McDonough, son-in-law Leigh Green, and brother Ira Rosenbaum. Ron said he was happiest while traveling and his motto was “Never put off today what you can put off tomorrow.” 

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