LAWRENCE LITWAK

1949 - 2016

LITWAK, Lawrence On December 30, 2016, at age 67 at home in Newton, Mass., surrounded by his devoted family including his beloved wife Deborah (Faber) and his two children, Kathryn Litwak and Jesse Chernis-Grant (Robyn). Born on February 12, 1949, Larry grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, the son of Daniel and Geraldine Litwak and brother of Susan (Louis Schmier) and their late sister Deborah (Michael Mixer). He graduated in 1970 from Princeton University, where he was a Woodrow Wilson School Scholar, and earned his JD in 1973 from Harvard Law School. Larry was a warm, charming man, of great intellect and insight, a wonderful sense of humor, and deep integrity. He practiced law for nearly 40 years in Boston, as a partner in Brown Rudnick and, from 2008 to 2013, of counsel in the Health Care Industry Team of Foley & Lardner LLP. During his prolific career, Larry structured and negotiated health care-related affiliations, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, hospital-physician relationships, formation and reorganization of multi-institutional health care systems, and more. His clients included academic medical centers, community hospitals, faculty practice plans, physicians and medical practice groups, and health care-related businesses. He played a pivotal role in major mergers and transactions that helped reshape the health care industry landscape in Boston, including the landmark merger that formed Boston Medical Center. Larry was honored with the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system and placed in the highest tier of leading health care lawyers in Massachusetts, by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business. He was included for years on Massachusetts Super Lawyers® lists and, in his final year of practice, was named in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of health care law. A former co-chair of the Health Law section of the Boston Bar Association, Larry also was a frequent speaker on health law matters. As a colleague wrote to Larry on his retirement in 2013: "You are the 'lawyers lawyer,' a consummate professional and a gentleman. The practice of law will be diminished by your absence." Larry was dedicated in his work, but had many other interests. An avid squash and tennis player, he treasured his court time and the camaraderie at the Newton Squash & Tennis Club, a local institution, where he was a member for many years until illness interrupted. He enjoyed books and cinema, travels and wonderful nights out. But above all, Larry treasured spending time with his wife, children, daughter-in-law Robyn, his grandchildren Lily and Rebecca Chernis-Grant, and the rest of his enormous, close-knit family, including his sister Susan Schmier (Louis), his late sister Deborah Mixer, his brother-in-law Mike Mixer (Kathryn), his sisters-in-law Joan Faber (Jeff Brewer) and Carol Johnson (Roger), his Uncle Eugene Litwak (Eleanor) and Uncle Leo Litwak, and dozens of nieces and nephews and cousins. Summer idylls at Myrtle Beach and the Conway cabin in New Hampshire, perfect days in Florence with Debby, gallivants in Edinburgh with the "fabulous six," celebrations at Gray Cliff, chatting with his grand-daughters—Larry relished these family moments and looked forward to countless more. His generous, kind, and loving spirit warm the hearts of all who knew and loved him.Service will be held Tuesday, January 3, 2017, at 11:00am at Newton Cemetery Chapel at 791 Walnut St., Newton Centre, MA. People are invited to gather immediately afterward at the Faber/Johnson home. Shiva will be at the home of Debby Faber and Larry Litwak on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:00pm and 8:00pm.In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Lewy Body Disease Association at https://www.lbda.org/. Brezniak-Rodman Funeral Directors brezniakrodman.com "Family Owned"