Barbara J. Wolfson, 69, physician and professor
Barbara J. Wolfson, 69, of Ann Arbor, Mich., a former pediatric radiologist in Philadelphia and professor at Temple and Drexel Universities, died at home Dec. 15 of uterine cancer.
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Barbara J. Wolfson, 69, of Ann Arbor, Mich., a former pediatric radiologist in Philadelphia and professor at Temple and Drexel Universities, died at home Dec. 15 of uterine cancer.
Dr. Wolfson lived in Jenkintown during most of her career in Philadelphia, which included time as a radiologist at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children from 1979 to 2004 and at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Hahnemann University Hospital, City Avenue Hospital, and Shriners Hospitals for Children from the 1980s to the 2000s.
She was born March 2, 1946, in Buffalo, to Irving Wolfson and Helen Toskov, both doctors. She graduated from high school at 16 and earned a bachelor's degree in Russian literature from Barnard College in New York in 1966.
After medical school and residency in New York, she became a fellow at St. Christopher's.
She was a professor at the Temple University School of Medicine from 1979 to 1997 and Drexel University College of Medicine from 2002 to 2004. She also taught at several other schools, including the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson University.
She retired in 2012 after working and teaching in Ohio for several years. She and her husband, Jonathan S. Kleinman, moved to Michigan to be closer to family.
"She was one of the happiest, most cheerful people you could ever meet," said her son Nathan Kleinman.
She made a point of treating people with kindness and respect, shaking hands with everyone when she entered a room, even infants, her husband said.
Dr. Wolfson was passionate about women's issues and women's education.
She enjoyed traveling, bicycling, hiking, kayaking, and going to the theater, especially Philadelphia's Arden Theatre Company and the Shaw Festival in Ontario, which her family visited each year.
Dr. Wolfson liked playing fantasy computer games such as World of Warcraft and Game of War. But her greatest interest, her family said, was in her children.
"It was a very rich life we had with our kids," said her husband of 37 years.
In addition to her husband and son, Dr. Wolfson is survived by daughter Molly Kleinman, son Max Kleinman, two grandchildren, and two sisters.
A memorial service will be Tuesday, Dec. 29, at 11 a.m. at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple at 222 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, N.J.
Her family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to any of three organizations that were important to her: Barnard College, the Experimental Farm Network, and Fox Chase Cancer Center.
610-313-8207@MichaelleBond