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Jewish Community News
December 2003
JCC employee celebrates 35 years at the center
by Cecily Ruttenberg
 |
| Fagie Rosen says her kids grew up stapling and folding at the JCC offices. |
An elderly woman who is part of the senior's program at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center will never forget Fagie Rosen's kindness and generosity. After traveling on a barge down the Mississippi, on one of Fagie's famous trips, this woman fell and dislocated her elbow.
"She went with me to the hospital and she stayed," said the woman who asked that her name not be used in the paper. "I love her dearly, she's always concerned for us."
This is the sentiment echoed by other seniors, co-workers and friends of Fagie Rosen. While an employee of the APJCC, Fagie acts like much more than an employee. She is present at the important events of all the seniors she works with, and is deeply involved in their lives. While only paid to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Fagie can be spotted at her JCC desk almost any day of the week. And she's present at every JCC event as a tremendous volunteer.
"To Fagie, working at the JCC is a lifestyle," said Janet Berg, associate executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose. "She is always, always there. She is such a sweet woman. Whenever a senior is sick, she's at the hospital, she arranges for them to get help. She's also a mother to many of the employees. If anyone needs anything, she's there to help them."
Fagie herself admits that her job is much more than a job. "I have made friends through the JCC that are a part of my family. I don't feel like staff, I feel like a part of the group," she said.
Fagie Rosen began at the JCC on Dec. 2, 1968. (Yes, she remembers the exact date!) At that time, the JCC was a committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose. Sid Stein was the executive director, and Ellen Ganz was the activities director. The center occupied a small house at 1024 Emory Street in San Jose with a spiral staircase, a living room and a kitchen.
When Fagie began her new career, she was a newly divorced single mother with three small children at home, ages 4, 7 and 9. While attending a Jewish singles event at the JCC she met Ellen Ganz, activities director, and asked if there were any openings.
"She said no we just hired someone," recalls Fagie. "Turns out the person they hired didn't take the job and she said I should come in for an interview."
Needless to say, Fagie got the job and moved into her new office at the small house on Emory Street.
"The offices were upstairs and if we wanted to get to them we had to walk up the spiral staircase," Rosen recalled.
Rosen moved with the JCC three times until they finally landed at the current Oka Road location in 1985. Along the way, in 1972, the JCC became an autonomous non-profit organization.
During those years, Rosen, her new husband Jerry, and the couples' children (Mark, Karen, Melissa, Denise, Heather) helped out in nearly every capacity at the JCC. "My kids learned how to staple, fold and collate. They did a lot of that. My husband learned how to fold tables and set tables up," Rosen recalls.
She continued to do much more for the center including helping launch the San Jose Jewish Film Festival, which just completed its 12th successful year. She has acted as a tireless volunteer for the film festival working the door, collecting tickets, organizing promotion and everything else along the way.
Over the years, Fagie has helped run the JCC's summer camp program, formulated social groups, organized numerous trips and much more. People who have known Fagie consistently recount that she is someone they remember as ‘always being there' of ‘always caring.'
"Whenever anything needed to be done, Fagie was there," said Cookie Addision, former president of the APJCC as well as the center's namesake. "When we first got involved with the center, she was just there doing everything for everybody, for every function. She's really helped the JCC tremendously. I can't even come up with an example because there are just so many of them."
When asked about her tireless involvement at the JCC, Rosen is very modest. She says she got just as much out of the JCC community as she put into it. "Being known to everybody, it's very positive for me. I kvell from this. Whether it's a board member or a rabbi, or another individual, my name is known and this makes me feel wonderful."
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