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Mildred and Harold Rosenbaum moved to Seattle in 1953 and became active in the Herzl Congregation and later fostered the establishment of other Seattle congregations. Intellectually active, they were influenced in New York by Jewish reconstruction. Mildred was active in Hadassah in promoting Jewish education and also gave public book reviews, often on Jewish subjects, for various organizations.

Mildred's grandfather was Benjamin Papermaster, the first rabbi in North Dakota. She grew up in several locations as a rabbi's daughter and earned a BA in Psychology and Political Science at the U. of Minnesota. She studied child welfare and psychiatric social work at Columbia University and completed requirements for a teaching certificate at the U. of Washington. Before coming to Seattle she was employed in working with children and adults by various social agencies in Minneapolis, New York City, and Montreal.

Harold grew up in Montreal of American parents, attended McGill University, became a dentist and served as a pediatric dentist (pedodontist) in the Canadian armed forces during World War II and throughout his career. He earned a certificate in clinical pedodontics from Columbia U, practiced in New Rochelle, NY, 1948-51, and served in the U.S. Air Force in Minnesota as base pedodontist before relocating to Seattle. His avocations were sculpting and papercutting using Jewish subjects.

The Rosenbergs raised a daughter, Betsy, and hosted numerous foreign students in their Seattle home, remaining in close touch with a number of them after the students left Seattle.