Marvin L. Rosenfeld, a longtime resident of Redondo Beach, passed away peacefully Sept. 16, 2011. He was the only son of David and Stella Rosenfeld, born in New York City Jan. 13, 1926. He grew up poor during the Great Depression, but through hard work and innovation he embodied the American dream. He was an entrepreneur, a friend to many, a loving husband, an outstanding father and a natural-born comedian.
“Marv” grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens and graduated from Newtown High School in 1944 and City College of New York in 1950 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was one of the youngest veterans of World War II, having enlisted in the army in 1943 at the age of 17. The following year he joined the 583rd Field Artillery Battalion and headed for Europe where he worked as a surveyor in France and Germany. He almost became one of the only American G.I.s to serve in both the European and Pacific theaters, but the atom bomb ended all that.
He worked much of his career as an engineer largely because of the influence of his Uncle Walter, who owned a small engineering firm in New York City. Marv moved to Californiain 1962 at the age of 36 to work for Aerojet General and then TRW in Redondo Beach. There he worked on the Apollo program and played a vital role in designing the lunar module that landed astronauts on the moon. He retired from TRW in 1984, but was far from slowing down.
He married Linda Schober in 1978 and soon later, at the age of 52, he had his first and only child, David. Getting a late start on fatherhood motivated him to exercise. There was never a time when his age prevented him from doing anything with David. In 1992 and 1993, Marv was President of the Sunset Baseball League in Redondo Beach where he made many friends. He thoroughly enjoyed watching his son and others advance through the league. By the age of 85, Marv was in about the best shape anyone could ever imagine for someone his age.
Marv started several companies, one called Dentool, which created the D-Plak-R and a floss holder, and another one called Noveltoy, which designed and built the Agnew Foot-In-the-Mouth Play Thing during the Nixon administration. Then in 1984, he began Novicom, a company that published health care magazines. In 2000, Marv began publishing another magazine with dear friends called Practical Pain Management. He was a tremendous boss – respected, fair and beloved by many of those who worked for him. He was very proud of the working relationships and long term friendships he developed in his business. He helped out so many people along the way, training them for new jobs and mentoring those around him. He only had one son, but he was a surrogate father to several others.
Marv was always eager to laugh or tell a good story. He enjoyed practical jokes and was known for his quick wit. He was well read and well versed on just about any subject. In particular he enjoyedUShistory. Until he became ill he was always found reading a book. He was also a writer of short stories and always wanted to be a journalist. In the past few years he enjoyed contributing to a guest column in The Daily Breeze called ‘My Turn’. He closely followed national politics and was a huge fan of baseball and the Angels. He was a great observer of people and could do amazing imitations.
Marv was a gentle soul with a loving heart – a one of a kind person that grew up knowing the value of family and friends. He loved life and hated to have to leave. He will be missed by many but especially his wife Linda and beloved son, David. A memorial service will be held at Rice Mortuary, 5310 Torrance Blvd., Torrance on Friday September 23 at 3 pm.
