A funeral service for retired businessman Howard Rosenfeld, who died Saturday, will be held at 11 o’clock this morning at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park, 1218 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles 90024.

Immediately afterward, Mr. Rosenfeld’s family will be receiving guests at

2342½ S. Beverly Glen Blvd., Los Angeles 90064.

Who was Howard Rosenfeld?

Under the headline “Rosenfeld Reaches 73 – Now What Does He Do?” a hometown newspaper in June 2003 attempted to convey a taste of this Playa del Rey resident, and we quote:

Contentedly puffing away on a habit he resumed not long ago, his raspy but pleasant voice cruising many of the highways he has traveled in his life, the retired businessman Howard Rosenfeld of Playa del Rey blew a charcoal-flavored smoke ring the other morning, sat up straight in his stiff outdoors chair and expressed one central regret.

“If I had known I was going to live this long,” he said, “I would have taken a lot better care of myself.”

Like, perhaps, too many others in his generation, Mr. Rosenfeld, two years into widowerhood, finds himself slightly at loose ends at 73 years old.

He is Exhibit A among a rapidly growing chorus of vaguely bewildered so-called senior citizens who don’t feel senior at all.

Flexing his emotional and intellectual muscles, he seems vigorous enough to play football on Sundays in the NFL. Only problem is, Mr. Rosenfeld and other classmates in their early to mid-70s are at an age where nobody dials them anymore.

Maybe they are too busy, as Mr. Rosenfeld is, deciding what to do with youthful vigor and a lifetime of experience.

They have no obvious place, they say, to spend their energy.

No one outside of their generation seems very interested in them.

“I am trying to figure out who I am,” said Mr. Rosenfeld on an overcast morning over a table that purposely was situated outdoors to accommodate his cigarette.

If he lives less than 25 more years, he will feel cheated that he didn’t plan a little more carefully.

“Who knew?” he asks rhetorically.

A generation ago, a 73 year old commonly was worn out. He wasn’t more than baby steps from the dead-letter file. Today, he is ready to play nine innings.