Dr. Joshua A. Perper

Joshua A. Perper lived a beautiful life and was a great man. He was born in the small town of Bacau, Romania, experienced the Holocaust, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 18. He married the love of his life, Sheila Perper, in Jerusalem. He received a medical degree from Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1960 and a legal degree in 1966. He took his family across the Atlantic and completed post graduate studies in forensic pathology at Johns Hopkins University in 1969. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was chief forensic pathologist and toxicologist and was elected as coroner of Allegheny County for 14 years. He was appointed Chief Medical Examiner of Broward County, Florida in 1994 and continued for 17 years. Dr. Perper conducted autopsies on several famous individuals, including Anna Nicole Smith, and was interviewed frequently on cable television. He was also an exemplary educator who taught medical students, pathology residents, and police officers the science and art of forensic pathology. He authored 11 books and over 100 scientific publications and had 26 academic appointments over his career. In retirement over the past 10 years he continued to work becoming a prominent and respected medicolegal consultant specializing in pneumoconiosis, or Black Lung Disease, which afflicts many coal miners. He was a kind, compassionate, funny, curious, loyal, outspoken, and wise man who loved and supported his family above all else. He was also a traditional Jew who loved the state of Israel. He passed peacefully on the morning of July 12, 2021 at the age of 88 years. He is survived by his three children-Edward, Harry, and Blanca-and seven grandchildren.