Rose Martha Jaffe passed away peacefully at the age of 96 on Dec. 20, 2025, accompanied by her loving friends.
Rose was born to Sofie and Morris Wolkenstein on March 18, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. She and Norman met in an adult ed class when she was only 18, and they married soon after.
Norman and Rose moved from New York to Los Angeles, California, for his work as a graphic artist with Kodak, and later moved to Santa Barbara in 1977.
Happily married for 70 years, Rose and Norman travelled the world, served their local community, and loved each other deeply until his passing on Aug. 13, 2016.
Their passion to serve humanity manifested in various ways, including offering educational scholarships, feeding the homeless, and in Rose’s work as a UCSB teacher of English as a Second Language for 40 years.
Many of her students became lifelong friends around the world that she remained in contact with until her death.
Rose’s generous and lighthearted spirit was apparent when she would treat her best friends to her favorite Chinese restaurant and joyfully recant cherished moments from that day’s show at Ensemble Theater or the opera.
From dynamically managing travel plans to cooking magnificent meals for a house filled with her students or friends, she always found a balance between work and play, while making sure everyone around her felt appreciated and honored.
Rose’s excellent memory, witty humor, and astute nature were her trademarks.
During their almost five decades in Santa Barbara, Norm and Rose were extremely active in the community and were generous supporters of Santa Barbara City College, VNA-Health, Ensemble Theater and the Jewish Federation, as well as the Los Angeles Opera.
Rose utilized services from the Braille Institute, as well as borrowed equipment from the VNA Loan Closet as her vision and mobility declined. She participated for 20 years in a book club, and loved to attend activities of the Italian-American Club.
She was always on the go, and liked to say she had the mind of a 30-year-old trapped in a 90-plus-year-old body.
While Norman and Rose did not have any biological children, they left a legacy that will empower future generations. Before Rose passed away, she founded Rose Shelter, an official 501(c)(3), with a mission to educate, feed and shelter those in need through the compassion of Jesus Christ.
Rose’s bold faith inspired the establishment of the nonprofit because she wanted to put God’s love on display in the most meaningful way possible. Rose was a non-practicing Jew and did not subscribe to any religious beliefs until the final chapter of her life, where she came to believe in Jesus Christ. She called him JC for short.
Rose Shelter is currently focused on three projects: to publish Norman Jaffe’s book, a work that shares his triumphant escape from an Auschwitz concentration camp; to support an orphanage in Uganda; and to build an elderly care facility at a church in Pakistan.
The foundation hopes to create many more projects that align with supporting those in need to ensure that the kindhearted love that Norman and Rose Jaffe embodied will live on forever. To learn more about the foundation, please visit www.RoseShelter.org.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16 at Santa Barbara Cemetery Chapel, 901 Channel Drive, Santa Barbara.
Please RSVP by Jan. 13 via email at NormanRoseShelter@gmail.com, or phone 707-836-3380. Additionally, feel free to send any questions you have or memories you would like to share.
We give thanks for the love that Rose carried, and celebrate that she is now reunited with the love of her life, Norman, together forever.