Harold Rosenbaum Soothed Patients In Several Languages

Whether you spoke Russian, Swahili or Mongolian, Dr. Harold Rosenbaum made sure sitting in his dentist chair was never a daunting experience.

With a smile on his face and a gentle voice, Dr. Rosenbaum went out of his way to ease patients' nerves, recalled his daughter, Betsy Schneier.

Some of the pediatric dentist's patients were non-native English speakers. Fluent in five languages and conversant in at least 20 others, Dr. Rosenbaum knew a familiar word or phrase could be an effective anesthetic. "He loved languages; he loved learning little phrases that would make his patients comfortable," Schneier said.

Dr. Rosenbaum died from bacterial pneumonia Saturday (Dec. 18) at Virginia Mason Hospital. He was 78.

A native of Montreal, Dr. Rosenbaum studied in New York and in 1953 moved to Seattle, where he established his University District practice. But dentistry was only one facet of his life.

Mildred Rosenbaum, his wife of 54 years, describes him as a "quintessential liberal" whose interests ranged from politics and history to art and culture. It was not unusual for him to cut short a working day so he could dash to the University of Washington to listen to a lecture, she said.

Dr. Rosenbaum was a committed Zionist who raised money in the 1940s to support the state of Israel, Schneier said. He also showed his support of Jewish culture through art. Dr. Rosenbaum began painting and sculpting in his 30s, but his favorite art form was Jewish papercutting, which involves cutting intricate patterns in paper. Papercutting was almost a lost art because much of the work in Europe and North Africa was destroyed by the Nazis, Mildred Rosenbaum said.

Dr. Rosenbaum endeavored to recreate that art. He became so proficient at Jewish papercutting that some of his work has been displayed in Seattle art shows. But the art form wasn't a complete departure from his dental practice. He used a set of dental tools to cut the paper, Schneier said.

"He was a scientist by training, but he really had the soul of an artist," she said.

Besides his wife and daughter, Dr. Rosenbaum is survived by two granddaughters.

Funeral services have been held. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to a charity of your choice.

Frank Vinluan's phone message number is 206-464-2291. His e-mail address is fvinluan@seattletimes.co.