Burton Sheldon Rosenfield, 94, of Longboat Key, Florida, passed away on February 16, 2026, Presidents’ Day. It was a fitting date for a man who often signed correspondence, including birthday cards, “Burt Rosenfield, President.”
Born in Chicago, Illinois on September 15, 1931, Burt was the youngest of Harry and Anna Rosenfield’s three sons. He graduated from Senn High School after skipping two grades, and attended Northwestern University, where he played running back on the school’s football team.
Sidelined by an injury, he left college to work alongside his brothers at their father’s business, Sterling Hardware, in Chicago. One of his main tasks there was unloading boxcars filled with paper bags of asbestos. Clearly, the deadly substance was no match for Burt, who never suffered any ill effects from this dangerous work.
In 1955, after an introduction by his closest childhood friend, Burt married Roselyn Foot. The couple had two daughters and one son. Eventually, they divorced, and Burt moved to New York City, where he dabbled in several careers, including sales and acting.
Despite a much-discussed (at family dinners) run as “The Pickle Man” in an Off-Off-Broadway production, fame on the stage was elusive, and with three young children to support, Burt moved to Philadelphia. He worked for his eldest brother in the insurance industry, and there met his second wife, Joan Silverman. The couple married in 1968 and had one daughter.
Burt soon branched off to start his own business, Temple Insurance Agency, which began in a one-room West Philadelphia office. Over the next two decades, Temple grew into a multistate enterprise encompassing 26 offices and three separate companies. He retired in 1985 at age 55.
Burt’s retirement, like his life, was filled with adventure. He began powerlifting and was soon known among fellow athletes as “The Legend.” Inducted into both the American Drug-Free Powerlifting Association and American Powerlifting Association Halls of Fame, he ultimately won 105 world, national, and state powerlifting records, some of which remain unbroken. He claimed his final world record in 2014 at age 84.
Throughout his time in Philadelphia, Burt became deeply involved in city politics as a political consultant and donor, and after his second divorce, while attending a mayoral fundraiser, he met his third wife, Deborah Shafer, in 1991. The couple married in 1993 and soon traveled the world together, reaching every continent except Antarctica.
They moved to Longboat Key in 1996, where he continued his political involvement, patronized Sarasota’s arts and culture organizations, and served on the board of his condominium complex, The Water Club.
Burt was predeceased by his parents and brothers Seymour and Gerald. He is survived and beloved by his wife, Deborah Rosenfield; children Lynne, Brad (Ticha Rosenfield), Beth, Wendy (Richard Wiener); and grandchildren Saliana and Harlan.
