Originally from New York, Dena came to Milwaukee for graduate school at UW-Milwaukee in 1979. She is a retired Speech/Language Pathologist and worked for Milwaukee Public Schools for more than 28 and a half years.
She was married to Neil Rubnitz for over 30 years until his untimely death in October 2020. They were blessed to have two children, Noa and Jonah, who currently live in Los Angeles, California.
Dena’s interest in HERC began when her mother, who survived the atrocities of Nazi Germany, arrived here in Milwaukee in 1940 at the age of 10. She never spoke of her experiences until she was in her late 70’s and early 80’s, as she always told everyone that she was from Milwaukee. Her story is quite unique, and Dena felt that if she cannot share her mother’sexperiences with others now, there will be no one to continue her legacy.