Gayle Moss Rosenberg

Gayle Moss Rosenberg, an accomplished journalist and loving wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully on September 5, 2024, at the age of 85. A member of the Santa Barbara community for 30 years, Gayle was laid to rest at Santa Barbara Cemetery in an intimate graveside service attended by her husband of 60 years and her children and grandchildren.

Born May 13, 1939 in Chicago to Roslyn and Ben Moss, Gayle was an only child who moved with her parents to Los Angeles in 1946 at age 7. Ben was a men’s clothing salesman and Roslyn worked as a cashier at the Broadway department store restaurant. Both were also active in local charitable organizations, including the Hergott Heart Fund and the City of Hope. Roslyn, who was a talented professional dancer early in her career and once performed at Radio City Music Hall, occasionally recruited Gayle to do dance performances with her at local charity events.

Gayle attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, where she first developed a passion for journalism as Editor-in-Chief of the Colonial Gazette. She went on to the University of Southern California, where she majored in journalism and graduated in 1960 as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. At USC she was also Chief Justice of the Women’s Judicial Council and a member of the Associated Women Students cabinet, the national Mortar Board senior women’s honor society, and Theta Sigma Phi, a national journalistic sorority.

Gayle then embarked on a 45-year career as a journalist and magazine editor. Initially based in Los Angeles with jobs at the Saturday Evening Post and Associated Press, she then relocated to New York in 1963 to become a reporter for LIFE Magazine. At LIFE, Gayle worked in the Entertainment and News Departments and covered everything from Broadway openings to society parties and presidential campaigns. She had a few encounters with the Kennedys, including riding in Robert F. Kennedy’s car during his senatorial campaign and receiving a call from Jacqueline Kennedy with feedback about one of her articles.

While in New York, Gayle met Charlie Rosenberg, a New Jersey native who was working as a sales engineer, prior to his eventual career as a financial consultant. The two married in 1964 and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this past summer.

In 1967 Gayle and Charlie moved back to Los Angeles, where Gayle eventually took a position with Architectural Digest magazine. She worked as a senior editor at AD for 30 years before retiring in 2005.

Gayle and Charlie became part-time Santa Barbara residents in 1994 and full-time residents and retirees in 2006. They have cherished their Los Angeles and Santa Barbara communities ever since.

In addition to her long and accomplished career, Gayle cultivated passions for the arts, friendships, and family connections. In retirement, she turned her lifelong interest in family history into a passion for genealogy. She was an active member of the Santa Barbara County Genealogy Society and mapped her own family tree going back many generations.

She loved keeping up with others and learning their stories, whether her neighbors on the block or distant relatives in other countries. Passionate about connections, she also claimed responsibility for introducing several couples who eventually married or became best friends. Family and friends in Gayle’s vast and loving orbit consistently described her as curious, loving, and kind.

But nothing gave Gayle more pleasure than spending time with her four granddaughters, who now range in age from 12-19. She was their biggest fan, promoter, and provider of hugs. They hold her memory dear, as do her two sons, Jamie and Adam, and her husband, Charlie.