AARON SCHWARTZ

SCHWARTZ--Aaron M. The beacon light of our family for so long, Aaron M. Schwartz, died on the darkest day of the year, December 21, 2022. He grew up on the Lower East Side of New York. At 15, he attended West Virginia University, and received his medical education at Hahnemann Medical College and New York Medical College, graduating in June, 1950. His internship at Beth Israel Hospital with mentor Leon Ginzburg inspired him to become a surgeon. In 1952 he enlisted in the Air Force as a surgeon, serving in Germany and Libya. Aaron completed his residency at Montefiore Hospital in 1957. He then worked as a general surgeon at Beth Israel before returning to Montefiore in 1963, where he became an expert in abdominal and breast cancer surgery. While at Montefiore, he also served as a New York City Fire Department physician for 12 years. At his retirement in 1999, he said, "I spent 49 years doing what I love--how lucky can you be?!" He met his wife Mary, then a scrub nurse, in the operating room at Montefiore. It was love at first sight. They married in 1956 and were blessed with four children. While family was his primary love and focus, he had a lifelong, insatiable curiosity about the broader world. He read voraciously (non-fiction because "you can't beat real life"), developing deep knowledge spanning an enormous variety of subjects. He applied what he learned to help his patients, colleagues, friends, and family. Aaron understood the inherent dignity and worth of all people. He truly believed he was no better than anyone else. He is survived by his wife, Mary, and his children, Stan (Cindy), Ben (Nancy), Jill (Bill), and Jane (Joel) as well as his grandchildren, Andy, Alex, Sam, and Margo. He was preceded in death by his beloved sister and brother-in-law, Sylvia and Daniel.