Bedford journalist Mike Rosenberg mourned by community

Local News

“We will truly miss Mike’s determination, enthusiasm, and dedication in writing about the wide range of stories to help keep the people of Bedford informed.”

A longtime local journalist and active member of the Bedford community died Monday night during his coverage of a basketball game at the local high school.

Mike Rosenberg, who became the first community reporter for the Bedford Citizen when the news site was founded in 2012, went to cover the girls’ basketball playoff game at Bedford High School. At halftime, a passerby noticed Rosenberg was unconscious in the hallway. He was transported to Lahey Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 75, according to his Bedford Citizen obituary.

“We will truly miss Mike’s determination, enthusiasm, and dedication in writing about the wide range of stories to help keep the people of Bedford informed,” the obituary read.

Rosenberg leaves behind his wife, Dawn, and his two daughters, Rebecca and Sarah.

Rosenberg started writing for the Bedford Minuteman in 1973 as a freelancer and eventually became an editor. Subsequently, he became an editor at the Lexington Minuteman and the Lowell Sun.

Wayne Braverman, the managing editor for the Citizen who wrote Rosenberg’s obituary, has known Rosenberg since working on the Bedford Minuteman in the ’70s. 

Braverman came to the Minuteman as an assistant sports editor right after receiving his master’s degree from Boston University. One day, his editor left for vacation for two weeks and Braverman had to figure out how to arrange the sports section on the physical newspaper.

Rosenberg, an editor for the Minuteman, took the time to teach Braverman how to do the work and answered all his questions.

“I learned a whole lot from him on that and I was always grateful for him for doing that,” Braverman said. “We became friends, and I’ve been in contact with him for all these years.”

After his time on the Lowell Sun, Rosenberg took a non-academic position at Maimonides School in Brookline but still kept up a sports column for over 30 years, according to the obituary. He additionally served three terms on the Bedford School Committee, four terms on the Select Board, and was passionate about Little League coaching.

“I have never been more flooded with emails, text messages, and our sites … are loaded with comments and emotional things about Mike on there,” Braverman said. “When a person has comments and is remembered from people decades ago from all walks of life, that, to me, says they were meaningful.”

Over 40 comments have been left under the Citizen obituary by people who shared their stories about how they met Rosenberg and the impact he had on them.

“I had the privilege of working alongside him through Bedford Embraces Diversity, and I quickly came to appreciate not only his passion for the community but also his kindness, humility, and positive spirit,” commenter Nibha Jolly wrote. “Mike was a man who inspired others with his never-give-up attitude and his ability to lift people up.”

Alongside his obituary, the Bedford Police Department gave a statement about how much of a “fixture” he was at the department and in the community, and a guest column from Susan Abramson, a rabbi at the Temple Shalom Emeth in Burlington, called Rosenberg a “true mensch.”

“He was a loyal Jew who knew way more about Jewish tradition, Torah and texts than I ever will,” Abramson wrote. “He was like a walking encyclopedia, not just of Judaism, but of the world in general. And he used his vast knowledge to quietly impart wisdom to anyone who asked for it, myself included, on many occasions.”

Braverman said that, at times, working at a newspaper can bring on its frustrations, but there was also “a lot of comedy.” Rosenberg was an “aficianado” of the works of the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, and Monty Python. As a huge sports fan, he would also give his unfiltered opinion of the Red Sox after a bad game.

Rosenberg loved being a reporter and was very committed to it, Braverman said. He would always have copies of stories and press releases in his hands, even on Thursday and Friday afternoons when the staff went out for lunch.

“Sometimes he’d have a fork in one hand, pen in the other hand, marking stuff up,” Braverman said.

After receiving so many comments and emails, Braverman said he learned a lot about Rosenberg he did not know before. It was a testament to how many people’s lives he crossed and how much of an impact he made on them.

“When somebody goes, it does hurt,” Braverman said. “I try to put myself in the place of appreciating who they were, what they did and what they meant, the gift that they gave me to help make me a better person.”