MELVIN SCHAPIRO

July 23, 1930 - July 28, 2021 Dr. Melvin Schapiro passed away in his home in Encino, California, on July 28, 2021, five days after celebrating his 91st birthday. Dr. Schapiro was born in New York and lived in New Haven, Connecticut, until his family moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1947. After graduating from Burbank High School he continued his education at UCLA, supporting himself by working as an extra in the motion picture industry. His education was interrupted by two years of service in the U.S. Army, serving in Japan during the Korean conflict. After returning to UCLA he married Barbara Kagan, who shared his love of motion pictures and Broadway musicals, an interest they nourished during their 67 years of marriage. After graduating, and earning a Masters degree from UCLA, he enrolled at the newly established Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where he earned his M.D., was A.O.A. and class president. Dr. Schapiro returned to the Los Angeles area for his medical internship and residency training at the West Los Angeles (Wadsworth) Veterans Administration Hospital, UCLA, and Mt. Sinai Hospital. He then started what became a highly respected medical practice specializing in gastroenterology in the San Fernando Valley. He continued his active participation with both academic and organized gastroenterology through his UCLA faculty appointment as well as his association as President of both the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and the World Congress of Gastroenterology. Dr. Schapiro became well known and highly regarded throughout the world of Gastroenterology through his efforts to enhance and support GI education. Dr. Schapiro is survived by his wife Barbara, his three sons, Martin, Lawrence and Kenneth, five grandchildren, Lindsay, Jake, Dylan, Madeline and Risa and his brother Arthur. Dr. Schapiro's concern and care for others played an important and positive role in the lives of many people, not only his patients, but his close and extended family, and all of those whose education he enhanced. He will be forever missed.