STEVEN FRIEDMAN

1943 - 2020

FRIEDMAN, Steven The category is....People Who Absolutely Would Have Been All Time Jeopardy Champions. A: This man was the greatest husband, an idolized father and the world's most adored Gampy. Q: Who was Steven Friedman? The world lost an incredible human being as Steven Friedman passed away on September 7th with the love of his life, his wife Harriet, and his two daughters, Merritt and Sloane, by his side. Steve graduated from Lafayette College, where he was a proud member of the 1962 College Bowl team, a team that recorded the highest score in the show's history. Steven also graduated from the A. Einstein College of Medicine, launching a successful career as a reconstructive surgeon who cared for thousands of patients over the years. Steve and Harriet set an amazing example of how two very different people can fall in love, integrate their passions and yet still maintain their own identities. For 55 years, they shared a love of travel, dining, attending theater and performing together in many Neil Simon shows, ice cream, Cape Cod family trips and their cats, Fern, Lost, 13, Mistoffelees and Astrophe. Merritt and Sloane idolized their dad and referred to him as "truly the smartest man in the world." Always jokingly competing to be named "dad's favorite," they knew he loved them equally and fiercely. His love, pride and support for them knew no bounds. While Steve's life was filled with many roles, his shining role was that of Gampy. Kasen, Maclane and Kensley always had a hand to hold, a fan in the stands, a joke teller, a chess player and a listening ear. Gampy was famous for never turning down the chance to read to his grandkids. Steve loved crossword puzzles, word games, chocolate, raunchy jokes, nominative determinism, haiku, political satire, bagels, baseball, poker and really good puns. He was an avid book reader, always made Genius level on the Sunday NYT beehive and he never missed an episode of Jeopardy. But mostly, he loved his family. His life, while full, was simply too short. The family will have a celebration of Steve's life at a future date. In lieu of flowers, donations in Steven's memory may be made to the MSPCA.

View the online memorial for Steven FRIEDMAN