Santa Fe Living Treasures – Elder Stories

During her youth in Brooklyn, Rosalie studied piano with a number of teachers. At the age of sixteen, she began to teach piano herself while attending James Madison High School.

Rosalie was pursuing a degree in music at Brooklyn College when she met Leon Heller, a physics major. After Rosalie graduated, she married Leon in 1952 and moved to Ithaca, New York, to do graduate work.

The Hellers moved to Los Alamos in 1956, and raised two sons and a daughter: Peter, Anthony, and Jean. "It was like a dream come true," Rosalie remembers. "I had read everything that I could get my hands on about Los Alamos--there wasn't too much at that time, but what I read fascinated me. I arrived in Los Alamos and loved it.

Please see Volume 1 for complete text.
Photo ©1997 by Joanne Rijmes