A match made in Maccabi Heaven
Meet Sandra & John Rosen
John Rosen aged 72, is a Maccabi legend.
Sandra and John Rosen
John’s life is a living textbook on Maccabi. He met his beautiful wife, Sandra at a Maccabi Carnival. They have been married this month for 48 years. As their love bloomed so did John’s roles within the organisation. They have ranged from President of Maccabi NSW to Director of Maccabi Sports Centre and of course a Life member of Maccabi NSW. His three sons, Glenn, Warren and Brad have always been actively involved and there is no doubt his seven grandchildren will follow in their grandfather’s steps.
John openly admits, “I am a bit of a sports junkie. One of my first loves was Amateur Boxing but really the list is endless with Basketball being towards the top!” John learnt at a very early age the importance and vulnerability of life and family. He lost his father when he was just nine years old. His father fought the Japanese in New Guinea and lost his life serving his country. He was only 36 years old. His mother never remarried, always devastated by the loss, focused on bringing up John. She lived to the golden age of 95 years old. We are very much a product of our circumstances and this helped to develop John into the devoted and caring husband, father and community volunteer, learning the meaning of responsibility at such an early age. Maccabi has been lucky enough to have John for over 50 years, always happy to offer support.
John is now actively involved in Lawn Bowls and is Chairman. This Club has a dedicated group of volunteers and is certainly a Club to watch and learn from. His mentors throughout his years, as an active volunteer, have been the late Lou Rose, MBE and the late Michael Wrublewski, OAM. John says, “Lou was an extraordinary individual and I learnt a lot from him. Even though Michael Wrublewski was younger than me and came on the scene years after, he certainly had an impact on me. He was tough but a very fair man and inspiring to be around.” Finally, Maccabi News asked John, “What are your thoughts about Maccabi today?” John’s reply, “Maccabi is being steered very well by Mick Vasin, CEO and together with his Executive they are doing a good job.” John’s last words, “Maccabi is all about relationships. The friendships last a lifetime. They have been the reason why I have stuck around for so long.”
