RICHARD WEDEEN

WEDEEN--Richard P., M.D. Richard P. Wedeen, M.D., passed away Wednesday, January 26, 2022, after a difficult battle with COVID-19 pneumonia at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, N.J., the town he resided in since 1969. Dr. Wedeen attended Friends Seminary in NYC, Harvard University class of 1955, and NYU Bellevue Hospital Medical College class of 1959. He was an internist and nephrologist, and Professor of Medicine and Professor of Occupational Medicine at UMDNJ (New Jersey Medical School), and Associate Chief of Staff for Research & Development at the VA New Jersey Health Care System. Dr. Wedeen was the author of Poison in the Pot: The Legacy of Lead, and creator and co-editor of Toxic Circles - Studies in Occupational & Environmental Hazards from the Workplace into the Community. Richard, commonly known as Dick, always loved a good discussion, mentoring and becoming lifelong friends with students. He was a founding member and past president of the New Jersey History of Medicine Society, and an enthusiastic participant in the Collegium Ramazzini, a society concerned with ethics and health in public policy. Through Operation Crossroads Africa, he led a medical team in Nigeria in 1964 and also worked as a doctor in Sierra Leone and Ghana, subsequently winning grants for medical care and research. Dick was a man of research and science, a lover of the arts and the cultures of humanity. He was an adventurous world traveler, collector of art treasures, and a prize-winning photographer of people and their creative works in Africa and Central and South America. Dick was also a talented sculptor. As an athlete he loved skiing and cycling until hampered by Parkinson's. Dick was the beloved husband of 64 years to Roberta Rubien Wedeen, a loving father to son Timothy and daughter-in-law Christine Kavanagh, and a delighted grandfather to their daughters MacKenzie and Tierney Wedeen. He was a cherished brother to his sister Joan Wedeen Blumenfeld, now deceased. He is mourned by nieces Karen Blumenfeld and spouse Andrew Nierenberg; Laurie Russo and husband Robert Russo; and by nephews Eric Blumenfeld, David Rubien, Andrew Rubien and partner Christine d'Ascoli. Patriarch of a warm extended family, Dick will be sorely missed by family, friends and colleagues. "Good night, sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!" . Visitation on Thursday, February 17, from 11am- 11:45am at the Barrett Leber Funeral Home, 148 Dean Dr., Tenafly, NJ. Funeral Service at 11:45am at Barrett Leber Funeral Home. Interment to follow at Brookside Cemetery, 425 Engle St., Englewood, NJ. Livestream information will be available on our website at www.barrettleber funeralhome.com. (201-568-8043). The family requests that guests wear masks. A Memorial will be held at a more favorable time in the future.