Obituaries
Embracing The Adventure
KIM LIFTON
Special to the Jewish News
S
ammy Rosenberg 5, had a
passion for learning. A week
before he died, Sammy
Rosenberg asked his parents
if he could go to school.
He loved school, and though he
was weak from his three-year battle
with cancer, he spent one of his final
days learning and playing with kids
at the Warren Cherry Preschool in
Evanston,Ill.
"For Sammy, life was an adven-
ture," said his mother, former
Detroiter Alisa Shapiro-Rosenberg of
Lincolnwood, Ill. "Sammy never per-
ceived himself as a sick child. He had
lots of life in him."
Sammy, who would have been 6
next month, died June 7, 2003, at
his home with family at his side. He
suffered from neuroblastoma, a rare
cancer of the nervous system that
primarily affects infants and children.
His strong desire to go to school in
his last week of life didn't surprise
anyone who knew Sammy. He
focused his days on living and his
deep passion for learning.
"He was such an unusual kid. He
was like an old soul," said his grand-
mother, Marilyn Shapiro of
Southfield. "He didn't let his disease
get his spirit."
When Sammy found something
that interested him — like ancient
Egypt, gardening, rocks, volcanoes,
space, the solar system and the
weather — he delved into it 200 per-
cent, friends, teachers and family
members said.
He wanted to understand things,
his mother said. "Nothing was half
way. We read books, and he would
put together models, experience it.
He was fascinated with the way the
natural world works."
Sammy relished adventures and
experiences many adults don't even
get. He went on a Make-A-Wish
Foundation trip to Disney Wodd and
the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida, where he wowed astronauts
with his knowledge of space. He vis-
ited a jet propulsion island in
California, planetariums all over the
country, had his picture taken with
the Stanley Cup and chatted with
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members of the Detroit Red Wings
after watching an exhibition game in
Traverse City.
"He knew he wasn't okay, but he
didn't live like he was sick," said his
great uncle, Jerry Knoppow, who
vacationed many times in Traverse
City with his nephew, Rick
Rosenberg and great-nephew,
Sammy.
It was in West Bloomfield at Uncle
Jerry's house that Sammy developed
one of his greatest passions: garden-
ing. The first time he saw his uncle's
beautiful garden, Sammy was
hooked.
Through countless e-mails,
Knoppow, an avid gardener, helped
Sammy and his father start their own
garden. Sammy got the ground ready ;
digging holes for the plants. And
Uncle Jerry brought plants to
Chicago for him to put into the
ground. Today, the Rosenbergs have
doubled the size of the original gar-
den, which includes a vegetable gar-
den.
"Sammy would, drag his dad out of
bed at 5:30 a.m. to eat the snow
peas," Knoppow said. "He knew
Across
1 Last word in
synagogues
5 Alternative for gelt
10 Hebrew letter
13 Made aliyah
14 Fear of Flying author
15 Cheer for Sidney
Franklin
16 Order
17 'Bar Kochba
18 Business degree
19 151
20 Bubbles, et al
22 Gompers' cause
24 El Al, on
26 Biblical fishing
device
27 Drummer Rich
to friends
28 Ten commandments
30 HaLevi specialty
32 Nosh
36 Elijah disciple
38 Writer Ayn
40 Actor Steiger
41 Meadow
42 Tzitzit site?
44 Gaza to Beersheva
(direction)
45 Triumphed
46 Sixth day creation
47 Bloody river
49 Hummus sauce
51 Use a dreidel
53 Biblical ore
54 Adam's homeland
55 Thou, possessive
57 Alphabet run
59 Pointers
62 Shertok or
Feinstein
65 Cartoon voice
67 Poet Baeck
68 Noodge (English)
69 Abraham, once
71 Woody or Steve
73 Oakland A's
Holtzman
74 Noah's forecast
75 Forbidden to mix
76 Hester Street
time zone
77 Actress Bara
78 Plagues and
commandments
what everything was, and he could
identify everything there."
Sammy's parents, Alisa (Shapiro)
and Rick Rosenberg, both teachers,
were raised in the Detroit area. They
met in Chicago.
In addition to his parents, Sammy
is survived by brothers, Jake and
Noah; grandparents, Saul and
Marilyn Shapiro of Southfield; aunts
and uncles, Nanci Rosenberg of
California, Cheri Shapiro and
Douglas Aberly of California, Carrie
Shapiro of California, Andrew and
Cathy Shaprio of New York.
Interment was in Chicago.
The family requests that donations
be made to the Warren W. Cherry
Preschool, .1418 Lake Street,
Evanston, IL 60201; Chai Lifeline,
4350 Oakton, Suite 2007, Skokie, IL
60076; Friends of Steven (which
does pediatric cancer research) P. 0.
Box 5994, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089;
or Bear Necessities Cancer
Foundation (an organization that
supports families of children with
cancer), 85 West Algonquin Road,
'Suite 165, Arlington Heights, IL
60005. ❑
Down
1 Son of Gad
2 Italian painter
3 Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem •
(direction)
4 Nebbish (English)
5 Join IDF
6 Genesis figure
7 Imitates Rickles
8 Mt. Hermon feature
9 Reuben's second son
10 Rachel's resting
place
11 Spanish philosopher
12
No Evil,
Sharansky work
13 Writer Sholom
21 Subject for Freud
23 Total
25 Owns
27 Game show host
?",
29 "If not now,
Hillel
Kapital, Marx
31
work
33 Catastrophe film
producer
34 Midday
35 Writer Ferber
36 Tu b'Shevat
plantings
37 Extra month
39 Reason for shivah
43 551
48 Home to
Montefiore
50 Hebrew letter
52 Last degree
56 Pharaoh's was
unsympathetic
58 Amulet
60 Mitzvot or good
61 Ephraim and
Menasheh
62 60 Minutes' Wallace
63 Solomon's digs
64 Transmitted
65 Cheese
66 Theater- troupe
70 Feh!!
72 Actress Grant
For crossword answers,
please see page 97.