Bradley E. Appelbaum died on June 27, 2016, at Brookdale Overland Park. The funeral is at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at Congregation Beth Torah. He leaves his wife of 58 years, Elizabeth (Berman) Appelbaum (nickname Betsy); son James Appelbaum and his wife, Gail, in Leawood; daughter Sharon (Appelbaum) Hoffmann and her husband, Reed, in Overland Park; and four grandchildren: Carolyn (Appelbaum) Thompson (husband, Jordan), Jeffrey Appelbaum, Nathan Hoffmann and Rachel Hoffmann.
Bradley was born in 1933, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Nathan and Doris Appelbaum. Nate was a city employee and a pianist. Bradley loved to talk about the times when his father would play a gig on a Saturday night and then bring home a candy bar for each of his two children: Bradley and Murray (born in 1935). In 1946 sister Mary Baller was born, and in 1950 came twins Lynn Lindsoe and Laura Robertson. Brad loved all four siblings. For the twins he made 16 bottles of formula every night.
Bradley graduated from Marshall High School in St. Paul, where he won the Bausch and Lomb science award. He was diagnosed with epilepsy, and a counselor with Minnesota Vocational Rehabilitation Services encouraged him to seek higher education. The government paid for four years of medical school. He received bachelor’s and medical degrees at the University of Minnesota.
Bradley had an internship at Ancker Hospital, the county hospital in St. Paul, now Regions Hospital. He loved children, perhaps because he cared for his sisters. From 1960 to 1963, he had a residency in pediatrics in Chicago at Illinois Research Hospital, now University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center.
Brad’s father-in-law, Reuben Berman, was a physician in Minneapolis. One of his patients was Helen Wallace, a physician and professor of public health. She thought that public health would be a good career for Bradley. In 1962, she became leader of the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health’s Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program. She encouraged Bradley to apply. He received the Master of Public Health degree there in 1964.
Public health was a good job for Bradley, because he loved helping people, and he was not always able to drive a car.
President Kennedy in 1963 signed a bill to expand maternal and child health services, preventing mental disabilities. The bill provided for new federal positions as consultant for mental disabilities. Brad got one of these positions in 1964, working in the San Francisco regional office of the U. S. Children’s Bureau. In 1965, the family moved to the Kansas City area, where Bradley worked in the bureau’s regional office. His title changed over the years. When he retired in 2002, he was medical consultant for maternal and child health, for the Health Resources and Services Administration field office.
His responsibilities included medical consultation to state and local health agencies and universities in the region: Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. He also worked with private and volunteer groups serving mothers and children. He received several honors, including: Administrator’s Award for Excellence from U.S. Public Health Service; Ross Maternal and Child Health Award, Kansas Public Health Association; 2002 Dedication Award, Iowa Public Health Association.
Bradley enjoyed volunteer work. He was proud to serve on the social justice committee of the Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah in Overland Park and on the board of directors of Harvesters: The Community Food Network. After retiring, he joined SenCom, a group for seniors interested in computers. He served as secretary, then treasurer. He was on the board of the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, sending electronic communications. While a federal employee, he could not do much in politics; after retiring he eagerly went to meetings of the Johnson County Democrats, serving as precinct chair.
Bradley was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2010. He and his wife participated in the support groups at the Alzheimer’s Association.
They joined Congregation Beth Torah in 2012 and were grateful recipients of the Caring Connection Team, which consisted of volunteers who provided companionship.
Bradley adored his family. There were countless vacations in the Twin Cities to see relatives, then renting a cottage in Northern Minnesota with Betsy’s family.
He loved music and was a proud subscriber to the Kansas City Symphony for years. A beacon in his life was a pet cat, several over the years, whom he called “gorgeous Appelbaum.”
The family lived in Prairie Village, moving to Overland Park in 1987.
If you would like to donate in his memory, please give to Alzheimer’s Association, 3856 W. 75th St., Prairie Village, KS 66208.