GoogObits: Work (LARRY A. ROSENBAUM, 56)

Work

Today we see how the gift of life was not squandered. Larry Rosenbaum was given the stereotypical “two years to live”. He took much more than he was given. And he gave a large company a set of intellectual property relating to the use of plastics. We are all work for hire.

LARRY A. ROSENBAUM, 56

Published March 27, 2003

Larry A. Rosenbaum, 56, a longtime Gurnee resident and a plastics engineer who helped develop hundreds of patented products during a 20-year career at Baxter Healthcare in Round Lake, died Saturday, March 22, of complications from meningitis in Milwaukee‘s Froedtert Hospital.

Born in Akron, Mr. Rosenbaum graduated from Akron’s Kenmore High School in 1964. He later attended the University of Akron but withdrew when diagnosed with a hereditary kidney disease. At the time, doctors gave him two years to live. Mr. Rosenbaum outlasted the disease and in 1989, after 18 months on dialysis, received a kidney transplant.

Mr. Rosenbaum’s experiences with dialysis and the transplant were key to his work at Baxter. As a plastics engineer and machine designer, he helped develop new ways to produce medical storage bags and delivery systems for various intravenous drugs, including those for patients with kidney diseases.

According to colleague Steve Giovanetto, Mr. Rosenbaum’s team of plastics researchers was responsible for 300 to 400 patents in the last two decades. Mr. Rosenbaum personally held more than 25 plastics-related patents and was recognized at Baxter as an expert in “container technology,” according to Giovanetto.

Mr. Rosenbaum began his career as a tool-and-die maker in Ohio. He later helped develop a plastic irrigation tile for farm fields. In 1982, he went to work as a manager in Baxter’s plastics engineering division, and he most recently headed a team of engineers and new-product developers for the company. Survivors include his wife, Susan, and a brother, Joel. Services will be held at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 31 Park Ave., Grayslake.