DR. GERALD JOSEPH GOLDENBERG

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DR. GERALD JOSEPH GOLDENBERG Dr. Gerald Joseph Goldenberg, formerly of Winnipeg and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Toronto, passed away peacefully at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto on July 16, 2010 after a brief illness. He was 76. Sheila, his beloved wife of 51 years; his four children, Lesley, Jay (Dinah), Suzy (Tony) and Ellie; and his sister Cynthia Goldberg, were by his side. He is also survived by his four grandchildren, Samuel, Matthew, Alyssa and Petra; in-laws, Seymour Goldberg, Bebe and Barry Posner, Calvin and Carolyn Melmed, as well as nieces, nephews and cousins. Gerald was born in Brandon, Manitoba and moved to Winnipeg as a child after the death of his father, Jacob Goldenberg. His mother, Fanny Goldenberg, raised her two children singlehandedly in Winnipeg's North End. Gerald won the gold medal when he graduated from Medical School at the University of Manitoba in 1957. He earned a PhD in Medicine while completing a residency at the University of Minnesota and continued further studies in London, England. He returned to Winnipeg in 1964 to join the Manitoba Cancer Foundation. He wrote his first paper on cancer research in the early 1960s and was still publishing more than 36 years later, with nearly 100 peer-reviewed articles published in scientific and medical journals. In addition to his research, he taught at the University of Manitoba Medical School and at the Health Sciences Centre and treated cancer patients. He was Director of the Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology from 1973 to 1988. He became Professor in the Department of Medicine in 1975. Gerald established a national and international reputation, serving as a consultant to the National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health in the U.S. He pursued collaborations with scientists at other centres through sabbaticals at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, in Boston, MA. In 1990, he moved to Toronto to become the first Director of the Interdepartmental Division of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, a post which he held until 1999. During this time, he established university-wide oncology rounds and study groups and worked to integrate clinical oncology research across disciplines. He became Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Medicine, University of Toronto in 1990. He was also Assistant Dean, Oncology, Faculty of Medicine from 1990 to 1995 and became Professor Emeritus in 2001. He continued an active research program in the Department of Pharmacology while pursuing both administrative and clinical activities. He remained a consultant at the Princess Margaret Hospital until his retirement in July 2009. Gerald was known as a caring, compassionate physician, respected by his colleagues and students and loved by his patients. In addition to his working life, he was an avid golfer and enjoyed summers at the family cottage at Falcon Lake, Manitoba. He and his wife travelled extensively both professionally and for pleasure. He was devoted to his family and proud of his children and grandchildren; they in turn brought him great joy. He will be greatly missed. A charitable fund has been established in Gerald's name at Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel, 2401 Steeles Avenue West, Toronto, Ontario M3J 2P1 (416)-663-9060 or http://www.benjaminsparkmemorialchapel.ca/

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 03, 2010