BORNSTEIN JR., Dr. Harold D.
Dr. Harold David Bornstein, Jr., a well-known and beloved pediatrician, died peacefully while in the care of The Whitney Center in Hamden CT on May 31st. He was 95 years of age. He practiced medicine in North Haven for forty-five years, beginning in 1953. Many of his former patients brought their children to his care, which in some families extended to four generations. He continued to make house calls long after the practice was no longer common. He was on the staff at both Yale-New Haven Hospital and The Hospital of St. Raphael. He was the medical adviser for the North Haven school system, and served as the doctor on hand at North Haven High School football games for decades. He also served on the North Haven Board of Education in the 1960s. Dr. Bornstein was born August 25, 1924 in Brookline, MA to Harold and Stella (Abrams) Bornstein. He matriculated at Oberlin College in fall 1941, but dropped out in December of that year to enlist in the US Air Corps, volunteering to serve in the Medical Corps. When he returned to civilian life after serving in Europe, he enrolled at the University of Chicago. After receiving his B.S. degree in 1948 and M.S. degree in 1949, he continued his education at Yale Medical School, where he earned his M.D. in 1953. After retiring in 1997 Dr. Bornstein continued to contribute to the community in many ways, since to him, medicine was a calling, more than a job. He was a consultant to the City of New Haven Health Dept. He served as a medical consultant to administrative law judges for the Social Security Administration. He was the founder and attending pediatric physician of the Winchester Pediatric Chest Clinic at Yale-New Haven Hospital for decades, continuing his duties there even after retirement, retiring from there only last year. He took an active part in the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine for years, serving as vice president from 2007-2009 and president from 2009-2011. In addition to all his service to Yale Medical School, his alma mater, Class of 1953, he was involved with The Hospital of St. Raphael, not only as an educator, but even in small ways, such as serving as a greeter at public functions.
Dr. Bornstein was also active in local philanthropy. He and his late second wife, Maureen, created scholarship funds at Yale School of Medicine and Southern Connecticut State University, her alma mater. He helped fund the Global Clinical Electives Program at Yale, which enabled students to study abroad, and the HAVEN Free Clinic. His love and support of music was expressed in several ways. He donated to the Yale Philharmonia. He coordinated monthly concerts at the Whitney Center, bringing Yale Music School students and members of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra to play for the residents. His generosity in support of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra led to him being the first recipient of the English Family Inspirational Giving Award, with a world premiere concert in his
honor in December 2019. He established more than 50 gift annuities, which he used to fund succeeding ones, much as the hundreds of spider plants he was known for giving had started from a single plant and spread across the community. Dr. Bornstein had three sons by his first wife, Toby (Sampson); he is survived by two: Daniel (Jane), a professor at Washington University in St. Louis MO, and Steve, a musician in Key West FL. His third son, Peter (Amy Deveau), of Ridgefield CT and New York, NY, passed away in 2011. He also leaves his "adopted" son, Kenneth Manning, a professor at MIT, of Cambridge MA, his two grandchildren, Laura (Brad) McFarland, of Kansas City KS and Sage, of New York, NY, and his dear friends Lauri LaBonia of East Haven, CT, and Carroll Ryan of Branford, CT.
A private graveside service will be held in All Saints Cemetery, 700 Middletown Avenue, North Haven. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The Bornstein Fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. 203-777-2386 [email protected] The Havens Family, North Haven Funeral Home, 36 Washington Avenue has been entrusted with the arrangements. www.northhavenfuneral.com