Rosalie Taubman

Rosalie Taubman, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, passed away August 3, 2025, peacefully at home in Dallas, Texas. She was 98 years old. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on December 28, 1926, to Herman Paul and Sophia Taubman, Rosalie was the youngest of six children and the one and only girl. The Taubman family moved to Dallas in the late 1930’s, where Rosalie attended Hockaday School and Highland Park High School, followed by Southern Methodist University. From 1947 to 1949, she studied art at the Ozenfant School of Fine Arts in New York City, nurturing a lifelong love of art. Rosalie was married to David Shalom from 1958-1973. The couple moved to back to Dallas in 1961, where they adopted two children, a daughter and a son. Rosalie was inquisitive, kind, funny and singularly independent in mind and spirit, always meeting life on her terms. She possessed a grand love of adventure –as long as the adventure did not require her to board a plane. Nonetheless her fear of flying did not prevent her from traveling regularly across North America and Europe by car, train or boat with family, and later with friends, enjoying art and culture, history and great food of the world. Rosalie’s life was centered around people – her parents, brothers and extended family, her children, and friends. She maintained vibrant active friendships that spanned decades and readily added to her circle anyone with whom she came in contact. Every individual she met, even in the most incidental circumstances, was recognized for their humanity and deserved dignity and respect. She was committed to improving quality of life and helping lift up others, giving time and resources to Jewish community efforts, educational causes and institutions, health-related research, and champions of social justice and women’s rights. She served on the board for the Dallas Home for the Jewish Aged and supported organizations that actively sought to remove barriers to quality education, such as the East Dallas Community School and Educational Opportunities Inc., from the youngest child well into college. Her belief in the power of knowledge and education was further reflected in ongoing support for Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts, Phillips Andover Academy, and National Public Radio. Throughout her life, Rosalie was a devoted patron of all forms of the arts. She loved movies, classical music and jazz, opera, ballet, theatre, and art. She became a collector of contemporary art and served on several arts-related boards and committees, including the Acquisition Committee of the Dallas Museum of Art, and ardently supported the Dallas Opera and Symphony Orchestra as well as numerous arts institutions across the United States. In the mid 1970s, Rosalie engaged architect Bud Oglesby to work with her on designing and building her dream home in Dallas, completed in 1978. Her house was recognized as an award-winning masterpiece of contemporary architecture and included in architectural textbooks. It was also a key expression of Rosalie’s personal aesthetic and identity. She spent her final days in the home that she had created and loved, surrounded and supported by loving family and friends. Rosalie is predeceased by her parents, Herman P. and Sophia Taubman, son Jonathan Shalom, and five brothers. She is survived by her daughter, Kaaren Shalom (Richard Gilligan), five grandchildren, Christopher (Andrea) Shalom, Megan Shalom, Jules, Liam and Sapphira Gilligan, three great-grandchildren, daughter-in-law Kimberly Shalom, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, and long cherished friends. Rosalie’s family expresses their deep gratitude for the years of friendship, care and support given to Rosalie by her secretary and her caregivers. We will all miss her very much. A graveside service will be held at 10:00 am on Friday, August 8 at Temple Emanu-El Cemetery, 3501 Campbell Street, Dallas, followed by a memorial service at 11:00 am at Temple Emanu-El, 8500 Hillcrest Ave. A reception will immediately follow the memorial service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Educational Opportunities Inc. of Dallas, National Public Radio, or a charity of your choice.

Rosalie Taubman

December 28, 1926 - August 3, 2025