Robert S. Waldbaum, MD (1938-2023)
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Robert S. Waldbaum M.D. passed away peacefully at home on January 29, 2023, surrounded by his family. He was beloved, respected and admired by friends, family, patients, colleagues and all who knew him for his warmth, compassion, integrity, generosity and boundless enthusiasm.
A lifelong New Yorker, Robert entered Columbia University at the age of 15 as a Ford Foundation Scholar, graduating with honors. He attended Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons where he was the President of his class. He proudly served as a naval surgeon with the Second Battalion Third Marine Division, an experience he cherished throughout his life. He was a surgical resident at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and a urological resident at New York Hospital/Weill Cornell.
Dr. Waldbaum was the founding Chairman of the Department of Urology at North Shore University Hospital, where he was at the helm for more than 30 years. He also served as the Chairman of the Medical Board and a Trustee of North Shore LIJ Health System (now Northwell). He was the founding partner and President of Urology Associates, a private urology practice for over 35 years. He was also the Chairman of the Urology Section of the Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Waldbaum was committed to the American Urological Association, serving as the President of the New York Section, and on the AUA Board as AUA Historian from 2002-2006 (https://urologichistory.museum/histories/people-in-urology/w/robert-s-waldbaum), and as Section representative on the AUA Board from 1996-2000. His many honors and achievement awards included the Lavengood Distinguished Service Award from NYS AUA, the William P. Didusch Art and History Award from the American Urological Association as well as the Lattimer Award from the National Kidney Foundation.
Robert loved exotic travel, skiing, tennis, golf, swimming, jogging, gardening, reading and music, but his greatest passion was for his family.
He is survived by his wife, Dr. Ruth Waldbaum, with whom he shared a fairy tale marriage and traveled the world, his beloved daughters, Nicole Moser, Alexandra “Ali” Kinnie, and Hillary Waldbaum, and grandchildren he adored.
George Allen Lightbourn (1933-2023)
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George Allen Lightbourn, MD was born on July 07, 1933 in Miami, Florida to his parents Carol Allenmore Lightbourn and Dorothy Bernell Dames, the oldest of four children.
Dr. Lightbourn was educated at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Florida and graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He then went on to receive his medical degree from Meharry Medical College.
Dr. Lightbourn studied and taught chemistry at Fisk University where he met his wife Jean Muriel Powell. He had planned to get his PhD in chemistry after completing a fellowship in organic chemistry. His Master’s Thesis was on the drug Phenothiazine. He was scheduled to start the doctorate program when he was drafted into the Army in July 1956. The Army assigned him to the research toxicology division at the Presidio military base in San Francisco, CA where medicine played a key role in his research. Dr. Lightbourn said, “working with so many doctors got me interested in going to medical school.” After an honorable discharge from the Army in July 1958, Dr. Lightbourn worked in the research department at Sinai Hospital in New York City and then attended Meharry Medical College from 1959-1963. He did his Internship, Internal Medicine and Urology training at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, affiliated with the Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Lightbourn’s research was published in The Journal of Urology (1968 and 1969) and the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine (1959). He was a practicing physician for 58 years from 1963-2021.
A member of the American Urological Association since 1973, Dr. Lightbourn’s professional affiliations and appointments included: Past President of the Detroit Medical Society; Past President of the Wolverine State Medical Society; Past President of the Executive Committee of Samaritan Hospital Medical Staff; Past Chairman, Urology Section, National Medical Association; Past Chairman Urology Section Southwest Detroit Hospital; Past Chairman Samaritan Health Center, Dept Surgery; Co-Chair Michigan State Medical Society’s Committee on Infant Mortality with the Detroit Medical Society; Member of the Governor’s Task Force on Infant Mortality; Executive Director- Dunbar Memorial Historical Museum; Member-Governor’s Technical Work Group for Comprehensive Health Planning Commission of Southeastern Michigan; Council Member Wayne County Medical Society; Vice-Regent International College of Surgeons from the state of Michigan; Fellow American College of Surgeons; and American Medical Association.
Dr. Lightbourn was a Colonel, United States Army Reserves, where he served as Commander of the 323rd General Hospital and Combat Support Hospital. Dr Lightbourn was a member of the NAACP, Shriner, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and a Mason-33rd degree. His hobbies included photography, golfing, car restoration and skeet shooting.
During the busy time of medical training and establishing a medical practice, Dr. Lightbourn and his wife Jean had five children. His wife and children remember him as fun-loving with a great sense of humor. At family gatherings he would always have the whole room laughing. His wisdom and support were a true blessing.
Dr. Lightbourn touched and changed many lives in the 89 years he was here. He was saddened by the death of his youngest daughter Rose Dorothy Lightbourn, Esq in June 2022. He is survived by those left to cherish the many memories of him, including his wife Jean Muriel Powell Lightbourn BSN, his daughters Andrea Celeste Lightbourn MD, Linda Grace Lightbourn BS, Tracey Gail Lightbourn BSN (Albert Campbell), his son George Allen Lightbourn Jr JD, as well as his brothers, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren.