Died: November 7, 2007
Dave Rossman’s fascination with spies and international intrigue was no secret while he was at Yale. He was among the first to see the latest James Bond movie and was a regular visitor to the Ezra Stiles buttery to watch weekly episodes of his favorite shows, Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Get Smart. A political science major, he spent his junior year at Freiburg University in Germany. He loved opera, especially anything featuring soprano Renata Tebaldi. Is it any wonder that he spent his military service with the U.S. Army Security Agency in Bad Aibling, Germany. He married Isabel (Penny) Collins in 1967. After concluding military service, Dave and Penny took a nearly round the world trip, visiting Cyprus, Beirut, Tehran, Persepolis and Karachi where his copy of Time magazine was confiscated (cover story: impending war between India and Pakistan). They subsequently visited Katmandu, Burma, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong. Dave and Penny returned to New York City where he earned his M.A. in history at Columbia. After working for Deak Bank in Fleischmanns, NY, they returned to New York City, where Dave began his career in foreign currency trading at Berliner-Handels and Frankfurter Bank. He moved to Citibank in Chicago, then Harris Trust in Los Angeles. Dave and Penny divorced in 1982.
In 1989 Dave married Mary (Bass) Rossman. He and Mary lived in the city of his birth, Glendale, while he continued to work as a foreign currency corporate dealer at Harris Bank in Los Angeles. Mary fondly recalls how she and Dave golfed together every afternoon in the warm California sun. They moved to Chicago in 1991 when Dave’s work took him to the Harris Bank home office. They lived downtown near Lake Michigan and enjoyed the city life of Chicago.
When Dave retired from banking in 1996, he and Mary moved to Albuquerque, NM where he became a securities broker and retirement investment counselor for employees of small businesses. He was active in the Kiwanis Club, serving as treasurer for five years, and raised funds for youth literacy programs. On top of this, he was an avid chef and gardener.
Dave passed away November 7, 2007 after a two-year battle with prostate cancer. Mary comments that he “fought his illness with courage, grace and good humor.” She adds that he often reminisced about his experiences at Yale and how important those years had been in shaping his life.