Hoping to enjoy a quiet retirement, one of Stamford”™s most beloved residents will soon be leaving “The city that works.”
June Rosenthal, affectionately known as Juner, is slowing down her work as a Stamford real estate agent and plans to retire within the next couple years with her husband Rolf in Santa Fe, N.M.
Coming off a successful career in real estate, Rosenthal, 89, says the only way she”™ll ever be able to retire is if she makes a clean break from it and stops the constant flow of information.
“I know thousands of people,” Rosenthal said. “It would be difficult to be here and grow older and try to get away from the business. People think of you as a real estate orientated person no matter how you try to get away from it.”
After 40 years, Rosenthal has built a name for herself. A decade after becoming an agent, she was named the No. 1 Realtor in the country by her employer at the time and by 1986 she had started her own boutique firm, Juner Properties.
Today, colleagues say she”™s known as the queen of luxury properties and has had a hand in almost every area deal involving a celebrity or notable property. About three years ago, Sotheby”™s International Realty bought her firm.
“She is arguably ”” but who would dare argue with her ”” the most successful real estate broker in Stamford,” said Sandy Goldstein, president of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District (DSSD). “Her belief in and love for the city is so contagious that everyone wants to buy a home from her.”
Outside of her career, she”™s also been an active community member. In 2007 she received Stamford”™s Citizen of the Year award and last month she received special recognition from the Stamford DSSD for outstanding citizenship and contributions to the cultural life of downtown Stamford.
“She is an icon in our city,” Goldstein said. “She cares deeply about promoting the arts in the community and puts her money where her mouth is. She has supported our outdoor sculpture event for the last 10 years and is always the first person to come aboard as a sponsor.”
Since moving to Stamford in 1953 to raise a family, Rosenthal said she”™s enjoyed watching the transformation the city has undergone from its small town, country roots to the bustling metropolis it is today. Just as she joined the real estate business, Stamford was on the verge of its 1980s boom.
“Stamford was a very small thing in 1953,” Rosenthal said. “Nothing like it is today. Nothing! It was country ”” real country. It grew and we grew with it.”
Rosenthal and her husband plan to move to New Mexico within the next couple months. However, Rosenthal said she doesn”™t plan to stop working until her remaining clients have their houses sold and are completely satisfied. She”™ll be working remotely from her new home in Santa Fe until then.
“It”™s been really quite a ride, that”™s all I can say,” Rosenthal said. “It”™s never monotonous. I don”™t think I”™ve been bored a day in this business.”
“But it”™s not over yet,” she said with a laugh. “I can”™t stop in the middle.”
Well, if I was in this position, I also couldn’t leave, thinking of business and stuff. But I think what she really need is a bonding time with her family and friends once in a while. There is no harm in what she is doing, age doesn’t matter. Spend your life with things that could make you happy and if your happiness is for others, go for it.