Family of Cyrus FELDMAN and Rose POLONSKY

Rose Polonsky Feldman, an Oak Ridge pioneer and longtime fixture in

community life, died at age 94 on Dec. 3, 2016, after several months

of declining health. She had been a resident of Greenfield Senior

Living in Oak Ridge since 2014.

Rose arrived in Oak Ridge in 1944 to join her husband Cyrus Feldman, a

chemist with the Army's Special Engineering Detachment. They settled

in Oak Ridge after the war, raising five children and contributing to

community life in multiple ways over several decades. Rose and Cy were

founding members of the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge and actively

supported the Oak Ridge Playhouse, Civic Music Association, Art Center

and Arts Council. Rose served on the Playhouse board and on numerous

auxiliary committees of the Jewish Congregation.

Rose was employed for 20 years as a biochemical technician in the

Biology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her role in her

supervisors' research on atherosclerosis and RNA transcription earned

her co-authorship on a number of published papers.

An energetic presence, though barely five feet tall, Rose was known

and loved for her sunny disposition, eager intellect and perpetual

enthusiasm for meeting new people. She made a habit of befriending

visiting scientists from all over the world, inviting their families

to dinner, tutoring their spouses in English and teaching their

children music or crafts. She regularly hosted post-concert receptions

for ORCMA's visiting musicians.

Rose Polonsky was born in Philadelphia, Pa. in 1922, to immigrant

parents from Eastern Europe. She had an older sister Sylvia and

younger brothers Leonard and Aaron. Her father Samuel was a carpenter,

and the family lived over her grandfather's tailor shop. Hours spent

talking with her grandfather at his sewing machine led Rose to an

adult avocation of making clothes, as well as costumes, puppets and

dolls for her own children and grandchildren.

An outstanding student, Rose ranked first in the graduating class of

1938 at Philadelphia High School for Girls, the city's magnet school.

She won a tuition scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania,

living at home and commuting to class by streetcar.

At Penn, she concentrated in chemistry, despite resistance from the

all-male faculty, and earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa. She met her

future husband in the Penn library, when she asked him for help in

translating a German technical term. They were married in 1942, but

had to endure many months apart when Cy was drafted into the Army.

They ultimately reunited in Oak Ridge when living space became

available for G.I. spouses.

In the 1980s, Rose twice turned her own adversity into concrete

benefit for the community. After recovering from a hospital-acquired

infection, she pressed the Oak Ridge Hospital to review and improve

its infection control procedures. Her collision with a locomotive at

an unmarked crossing in Emory Valley left her unhurt but prompted the

railroad to install warning signals.

When Cy, her husband and life partner of nearly 50 years, died

suddenly in 1990, Rose sought direction in life by moving to Boston,

near her oldest son and his family. Alternating among many cultural

activities that attracted her, she took classes in history and art,

made tours of India, Japan and Israel, and joined Yiddish reading and

conversation groups. Only when her mobility and hearing became

severely limited in 2014 did Rose give up independent living and opt

for a retirement community back home in Oak Ridge.