Edward Rosenthal (1903–1991) was a former vice chairman of

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC (doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warner ...

and president/owner of the Jewish funeral home chain,

Biography

Rosenthal was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. He has two siblings: Miriam Rosenthal Passerman and Morton Rosenthal. In 1924, he graduated with a B.A. from the Wharton School at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. After school he took over his family's funeral home business founded by his grandfather, Louis Meyers, in 1897.Riverside Memorial Chapel: "History"
retrieved September 15, 2016 In 1933, he divided the company into two brands, the ''

Riverside Memorial Chapel The Riverside Memorial Chapel is an American Jewish funeral home chain with their main facility at 180 West 76th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City.Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

(1935);

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

(1938); the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

(1940); and

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

(1950). He expanded further via acquisitions acquiring the

Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel The Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel is a funeral home located on Madison Avenue at 81st Street in Manhattan. Founded in 1898 as Frank E. Campbell Burial and Cremation Company, the company is now owned by Service Corporation International. Fran ...

(1948), the Universal Funeral Chapel (1955); and the Walter B. Cooke Chapel (1957) to become the largest funeral company in the United States. The company diversified after he brought his son-in-law Steve Ross (who married his daughter Carol in 1953) into the business. They established a separate company that would lease out their vehicles in the evenings when they were not needed for funerals and then opened a rental company, Abbey Rent a Car.''New York Times'': "A $78 Million Year: Steve Ross Defends His Paycheck" BY ROGER COHEN
March 22, 1992 They later merged the funeral home and Abbey with a parking lot operator, the Kinney Parking Company, which was then owned by underworld crime figures

Manny Kimmel Emmanuel Kimmel (April 14, 1896 – July 18, 1982) was a notable underworld figure between the 1930s and 1960s and the founder of the Kinney Parking Company, a chain of parking lots and garages which evolved into the media conglomerate Warner Comm ...

and Abner Zwillman; and added City Service Cleaning Contractors, Inc,, an office cleaning business jointly owned by Rosenthal and a cousin. In 1958, Rosenthal ceded control to his son-in-law. The resulting holding company, Kinney Service Corporation, was taken public in 1962 with a market valuation of $12.5 million. Rosenthal served as vice chairman of Kinney National from 1962 until 1966. In 1964, Kinney National purchased wood flooring manufacturer Circle Floor from Seymour and Paul Milstein for $15 million.''New York Times'': "Milstein Opens Throttle as Builder"
October 18, 1981 In 1966, Kinney expanded into the entertainment business by purchasing the Ashley-Famous talent agency and then in 1969, Kinney paid $400 million for the ailing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts film studio and record business. In 1971, the funeral business was purchased by Service Corporation International. A year later, after spinning off its remaining non-entertainment assets, Kinney National Services renamed itself

with Rosenthal serving as vice chairman of Warner Communications from 1972 until 1983. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served with the

Seabees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. Rosenthal was a founder of the Fairview-Greenburgh Day Care and Community Center.

Personal life

Rosenthal was married to Bea "Doris" Rosenthal; they had four children: Peter Rosenthal; Ellen Rosenthal Sarnoff; Patricia Rosenthal Cantor; and Carol Rosenthal Ross Maslow. His first wife Beatrice Malawista Rosenthal died in childbirth with their child Carol in 1935.''New York Times'': "CAROL MASLOW"
February 4, 2014 He died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

at his home in

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenthal, Edward 1903 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American Jews American businesspeople