Robert S. Waldbaum M.D., 84, passed away peacefully at home on January 29, 2023, surrounded by his adoring family. He was beloved, respected and admired by friends, family, patients, colleagues and all who knew him for his warmth, compassion, integrity and generosity. His cup was never half full, but rather it runeth over. He was bigger than life with an incredible lust for living.
A lifelong New Yorker, Robert entered Columbia University at the age of 15 as a Ford Foundation Scholar, graduating with honors. He attended Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons where he was a member of AOA, the national medical honor society, and was the President of his class. He proudly served as a naval surgeon with the Second Battalion Third Marine Division, an experience he cherished throughout his life. He was a surgical resident at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and a urological resident at New York Hospital/Weill Cornell.
Dr. Waldbaum was the founding Chairman of the Department of Urology at North Shore University Hospital, where he was at the helm for more than 30 years. He also served as the Chairman of the Medical Board and a Trustee of North Shore LIJ Health System (now Northwell). He was the founding partner and President of Urology Associates, a private urology practice for over 35 years. He was also the Chairman of the Urology Section of the Academy of Medicine. He was committed to the American Urological Association, serving as the President of the New York Section, on the Board of Directors and as the National Historian. Dr. Waldbaum was the recipient of many honors and lifetime achievement awards including the Lavengood Distinguished Service Award from the American Urological Association and the Lattimer Award from the National Kidney Foundation. In addition, North Shore LIJ and Dr. Waldbaum’s patients endowed a chair in his honor, the Waldbaum Gardner Professorship in Urology.
Robert loved exotic travel, skiing, tennis, golf, swimming, jogging, gardening, reading and music, but his greatest passion was for his family.
He is survived by the love of his life, Dr. Ruth Waldbaum, with whom he shared a fairy tale marriage and traveled the world, his beloved daughters, Nicole Moser, Alexandra “Ali” Kinnie, and Hillary Waldbaum, the grandchildren he adored, Cameron and Charlotte Moser and Emma and Jack Kinnie, as well as his son-in-laws, Michael Moser and Bob Kinnie, the sons he never had. He is also survived by his loving sister, Myra Stark, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Marvin and Shellie Pomerantz, and nieces and nephew, Lisa, Dana, Victoria and Brian.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.riversidenassaunorthchapels.com for the Waldbaum family.
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