Herman E. Warshaw
1927-2021

On March 21, 2021, Herman E. Warshaw passed away peacefully in his sleep. Hy, as he preferred to be called by friends and family, was born on December 5, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois to Morris Warshaw and Mary Tarnoff. He grew up surrounded by a large extended family first in Brooklyn, New York and then later, in Linden, New Jersey where heard the Hindenburg explosion as a child. Later, as a teenager during the early years of WW2, he volunteered as an enemy plane spotter for the Aircraft Warning System; he learned the make and model of many planes but never spotted any enemy craft. In 1946, Hy joined the Air Force where he drove a jeep, served as a chaplain assistant, and perhaps most importantly, got stationed to San Antonio, Texas. It was in Texas that Hy found the love of his life, Shirley Lebowitz, and his profession, medicine. He met Shirley in a fall registration line at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. They married in 1953 and then moved to Houston where Hy entered Baylor College of Medicine. In 1961, Hy, having completed his otolaryngology residency, opened his own private ear, nose and throat practice.
Eventually, Hy enlisted two more doctors to his practice both of whose last names began with Ws - Weycer and Weber.

During the long years of his practice, Hy served as the president of the Houston Otolaryngological Society, as well as a board member for the Houston chapter of the American Red Cross. He became an associate professor of medicine at Baylor University and consulted with NASA by helping to train astronauts in simple medical procedures. The public health achievement he was most proud of was his leadership as the Chairman of Harris County's Office of Economic Opportunity which created a system of neighborhood public health clinics. After retiring from private practice, Hy continued working part-time as a physician at Houston Hospice for an additional year.
Beyond the volunteer work he did as a physician, Hy committed long hours to helping his community in various capacities. He served on the boards of Jewish Family Service, Seven Acres, the Jewish Community Center, Congregation Brith Shalom and Congregation Beth Yeshursan. In retirement, he became a volunteer mediator for justice of the peace courts with the Dispute Resolution Center as well as a palliative care volunteer at M. D. Anderson hospital. A devotee of the arts, Hy was a long-time patron of the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, Alley Theater and Stages Theater.

Ever curious about the world, Hy taught himself guitar, flute, sailing. He took drawing lessons, Spanish lessons, fly fishing lessons, and many, many continuing education courses in literature, history and philosophy. Even in his last years of failing health, Hy kept learning, reading Anna Karenina and Don Quixote in the last weeks of his life. He loved being near water, at first by owning a series of boats, large and small, and then eventually purchasing a beach house where he could be found on most summer weekends. Hy loved traveling as well, visiting national park after national park and continent after continent with his wife Shirley.

By far, the most important part of Hy's life was his long and loving marriage to Shirley. Together they navigated their lives through happiness and sadness, increase and loss, delight and struggle.

They shared that sustaining love with their four children: Mark (z'l), Deborah, Michael and Jonathan; their spouses, John, Shelby and Natalie; and grandchildren Maya, Hannah, Noah, Jacqueline, Jadyn, Levy; as well an amazingly large and loyal group of friends. He was a model for us all of an honorable life well lived, one focused on healing the world while enjoying its delights.