HERBERT DANIELS LEWIS M.D.

1916 - 2015

LEWIS, HERBERT DANIEL, MD. Herbert Daniel Lewis, MD, 98, died peacefully on November 10 at home in Branford, with his loving family at his side. Born November 17, 1916 in New Haven, he was the eldest child of Isidore Lipofsky and Gertrude Casher Lipofsky. Educated at New Haven public schools, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1937 and married his childhood sweetheart Vivian Berman in 1938. He was a beloved husband, son, brother, father, uncle, grandfather, and cousin, and a doctor and friend to many. He joined the US Navy after graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1942 and, returning to New Haven in 1946, he embarked on a five-decade-long practice as a family physician, caring for his patients with constant compassion through house calls and hospital visits alike. He served for more than 25 years as Director of Personnel Health for Yale New Haven Hospital, was a clinical professor at the Yale School of Medicine, and was staff doctor for Long Wharf Theater. A man with wide-ranging interests and exceptional intelligence, Herbert was always ready to share a story or make a joke. He loved places -- the ocean, nature, his Connecticut home bases of New Haven, Woodbridge, and Branford -- and he loved his patients, whom he felt blessed to be able to make his life’s work serving. Retiring at 71, he was able to spend an increasing portion of his winters in Anguilla, returning just in time to plant his vegetable garden for spring, brown as a nut and with a contented silly rabbit smile on his face. He is survived by four children: Karen Lewis and her partner Lynn Bonfield, of San Francisco and Peacham, Vermont; Steven Lewis and his spouse Pamela Burke, of Middletown, New Jersey; Mark Lewis of Redwood City, California; and Sara Lewis and her spouse Thomas Michel, of Lincoln, Massachusetts; by four loving grandchildren: Daniel and Brian Lewis and Benjamin and Zachary Michel; and by his sister Mona Rabineau, of Dedham, Massachusetts. He was predeceased by his wife Vivian and his sister Rhoda Cahn. A memorial service will be held at Congregation Mishkan Israel, 785 Ridge Road, Hamden, 11 a.m. on Friday, November 13, 2015, and a family circle of remembrance is planned for next spring. Donations in Herbert’s memory may be made to The Connecticut Hospice. The Weller Funeral Home, 493 Whitney Ave., New Haven is in charge of arrangements. To sign a memorial book, please visit: www.wellerfuneralhome.com.