R.I.P. Sensei Kris Rosenthal
morgothan | 25 03 2008Last night March 24th 2008. Sensei Kris Rosenthal, my Judo Instructor passed away while teaching Judo class. This is a great loss to not only his family and students, but to the entire martial arts community. Sensei Rosenthal was a good man, and a great instructor. He always pushed you do more then you thought you could. He will be missed a great deal.
UPDATE 25 March 2008:
The Asbury Park Press website has his obituary, and information regarding the funeral and viewing.
Kris Rosenthal’s Obituary
cry……..im going to miss him
Sensei Kris was a great friend and teacher of mine and I am extremely hurt about his passing.
I have known Kris for about 15 years and met him when I first starting training in Shotokan Karate at OCC.
It was my pleasure to train with him and get to know him as a friend.
Years later when he opened his Dojo, I was felt very proud of my friend for taking a chance that I knew he would be successful at and he took the challenge head-on and never looked back. Once again, it was my pleasure to train under him and call him my Sensei and friend.
I had hoped he would teach for years to come and that I could take my children to him to learn the martial arts and also to learn how to handle the challenges of life on and off the matt.
I would like to thank the person who owns this website for recognizing and remembering Sensei Kris in your journal and also for the chance to post my thoughts at this sad time on your site.
With sincere thanks,
Ken Peirson
I am crushed by the loss of sensei Kris. He was my teacher and close friend. He was the ultimate teacher, friend, and family man. This is a crime!I want my friend back!
Before I begin, this ronin would like to give respect to every kung fu practitioner on this website. Sensei Kris Rosenthal was my shotokan karate instructor. Martial arts aside though, he was a good man. He taught us much more than karate. By his own example, he taught us all how to be good honorable people of character. He was the type of person who would protect those who could not protect themselves, a true role model. He exemplified the character that all martial artists should strive for. To any person reading this posting, I wish that you may remember the name of Sensei Kris Roenthal as a truly wonderful sensei, but more importantly a wonderful person. He will be missed by his students, but mostly by his family. Keep practicing your art. If you are responsible, and have a sense of honor and justice, the martial arts can make you a better person. Sensei Kris Rosenthal is proof of this. May he rest in peace with God, the Master of our masters.
My family is deeply saddened in hearing of the loss of Sensei Kris. Our son Tim, a good man, as he was always told by his Sensei, had trained at Kodokan for the past 3 years. Timothy had to take some time off from his training with all intentions of returning in April and it was only then we had learned of this unfortunate loss. I just want to say that Sensei had a significant impact on my sons life and mine as well. I have never met a more sincere person and consider ourselves very fortunate for having known him and his family. The time spent at the Dojo training, chatting with his children and all the great things we did together in family style will always be at the forefront of our memories. We will speak of him often and remember him fondly!!!
The Levash Family,
Tom, Susan and Tim