Obituary of Miriam Geri Rosen

Miriam Geri Rosen, known for most of her life as Geri, died peacefully on Saturday, July 19, 2014 in her daughter’s home in Olympia, Washington. She was 83. Born to Susan (Hurwitch) Rosen and Benjamin Rosen in Philadelphia on October 9, 1930, she was raised in New York City. Geri earned her bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College in 1952 and master’s degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1953. She moved to the Washington, D.C. region in 1957, where she raised three children and has resided on Capitol Hill since 1971. She and her husband Tom spent summers in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where they enjoyed the quiet of the small fishing village of White Point. They loved hosting visiting friends in the cool summer weather, walking in the woods, and dodging the errant moose on the local roads. Geri was known for her dry wit, easy smile, and her support and loyalty to friends and family. Like Wendy Darling from Peter Pan, Geri always provided an ear to listen, some food to eat, and place to sleep for many a lost boy or girl. One never knew who might be coming to dinner or sleeping on the couch. She worked as a legislative correspondent in the office of U.S. Senator William Proxmire from 1958 to 1981, where she met her husband Tom and made several lifelong friends. After retiring from the Senate, she joined the radiopharmaceutical chemistry research team at The George Washington University Medical School as a project administrator, where she worked until 1991. Her passion for music, literature, and the arts led her to work as a volunteer and docent at the Library of Congress, Arena Stage, the Kennedy Center, and the Museum of the American Indian. Geri loved travel and photography and spent much of her time in retirement visiting cities across the globe with Tom, and documenting it with photographs. Her marriage to Arnold Sawislak ended in divorce in 1971. She is survived by her husband of nearly 30 years, Tom Kuchenberg; her three children, Deborah Sawislak of Seattle, Washington, Ellen Sawislak of Olympia, Washington, and Josh Sawislak of Alexandria, Virginia; and four granddaughters and a son-in-law. Please leave memories of Geri or condolences for her family in the Guestbook below.