Avram E. Rosenthal passed away peacefully at home in Spring, Texas, on Feb. 5.
He was 92 years old. Avram was a first-generation American who was a steady and generous provider and mentor, and a dedicated and loving husband, father, stepfather, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle and cousin.
He was born May 21, 1933, in St. Joseph, Missouri, to William J. and Ida Rosenthal. Avram lived his early childhood in St. Joe, where his paternal grandparents operated the Rosenthal Furniture & Carpet Co. and his paternal grandfather helped found Shaare Sholem Congregation (1895), the Talmud Torah Hebrew School (1900) and the Knynishiner Unterstitzung Verein (incorporated in 1914), an organization that lent money interest-free to families in need. The values they lived by guided his own and influenced his pursuits and his parenting.
In 1944, Avram’s family moved to Kansas City. He became a bar mitzvah and was confirmed at Congregation Keneseth Israel-Beth Sholom and graduated from Paseo High School, where he was an honor roll student; president of the Juntos Club, which fostered unity and cultural awareness among students; and a member of the Chemistry Club.
Avram earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology and chemistry from The University of Kansas City (now UMKC) in 1954. He attended the University of Kansas Medical School from 1954 to 1958, when he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine. He was an elected member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Following medical school, Avram and his first wife moved to Los Angeles, where he completed residency at L.A. County General Hospital. In 1962, they moved to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he served for two years as a radiologist and Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps at a full-service hospital.
Avram earned Board Certification in Radiology in 1963. In 1964, he established a private practice in Los Angeles. He became Board Certified in radiation oncology in 1973. In 1974, Avram became head of the Radiology Oncology Department at St. John Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Avram was a member of the American Medical Association and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and elected to the Silver Pin Club. He served on the Board of Directors of Tulsa Radiology Associates. The Board of Regents at the University of Oklahoma Tulsa Medical College awarded him the rank of Clinical Assistant Professor.
In 1985, he married Martha R. Homan, the love of his life and unwavering partner. After retiring at 60, Avram continued to stay current on medical news. In 1996, they moved to Lake Conroe, Texas, and he returned to work for a few years to fill in for vacationing doctors in Oklahoma and Texas. Avram remained active into his 80s. His passions included fishing, sailing, chess, running, tennis, golf, gardening, bridge and quality time with children and grandchildren and their families.
Avram prioritized hard work and education and encouraged his family to do the same. He planned family trips to national parks and monuments, museums and Israel, and treated his children to meaningful trips separately. He wrote that one of his and Martha’s greatest pleasures was to provide opportunities that would allow their children and grandchildren to pursue their interests and enhance the quality of their lives.
He was a member of the KU Alumni Association, B’nai B’rith International, Temple Brotherhood, and a member and volunteer at Temple Ramat Zion in Northridge and Congregation B’nai Emunah and Temple Israel in Tulsa.
Avram was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Mildred Oelbaum, Jacobah Lazarus and Ranore L. Davison; brother, Mortimer W. Rosenthal; and two of his five children, Sheryl Ann Rosenthal (Nathan Appel) and Baby Boy Rosenthal.
He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Martha Rae Rosenthal of Oklahoma City; sons Howard N. Rosenthal (Aaris Sherin) of Nyack, New York, and Michael L. Rosenthal (Danni) of Littleton, Colorado; daughter Wendy J. Rosenthal of Salinas, California; stepdaughter, Deborah L. Thompson of Nichols Hills, Oklahoma; six grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to thank the many friends and staff members at The Village at Gleannloch Farms in Spring, his 24/7 caregivers from Innovative Home Services, Erin Mansour of Heart to Heart Hospice, Rabbi Jonathan Siger of Congregation Jewish Community North in Spring and Rabbi Edwin C. Goldberg of Congregation Beth Shalom in The Woodlands.
Avram’s cremains will be combined with Martha’s when the time arrives, and they will be interred together at Floral Haven in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Avram lived a purposeful, productive, meaningful and fulfilling life. He is deeply missed.