Charles Steiner, MD

Dr. Charles Steiner passed away September 9, 2026 at the age of 88 surrounded by his wife and children. He lived an extraordinary life filled with adventure, accomplishment, family, friendship, and laughter.

Born in Czechoslovakia at the beginning of World War II, Charles and his family escaped Europe and found safety in New Zealand. He grew up as a proud “Kiwi” with his parents and brother, John, in Island Bay. New Zealand remained a place he cherished throughout his life.

Charles attended Otago Medical School in New Zealand. After an internship and residency, he became a cardiology fellow at Columbia University in New York City and then remained on the faculty. Later, he moved to New Orleans to open a cardiology practice on the West Bank which grew into a comprehensive program that was decades ahead of its time. He founded The Cardiology Center where he developed the first Cardiac Care Unit and did the first coronary angioplasty in the state of Louisiana. He was innovative, driven, determined, and never afraid to pursue what he believed in.

After retiring, he bought a farm in New Zealand named Willowbank. It was a refuge filled with sheep, cattle, alpacas and, of course his lifelong passion, horses. He trained & bred horses, bringing the Missouri Fox Trotter to New Zealand, where he enjoyed riding his horses across the vast terrain.

Charles was focused, determined, and famously stubborn. He was also a tremendous storyteller and jokester, with a gift for making everyone laugh. He had a great love and passion for horses, books, movies and food. A true character who made life more interesting for everyone around him. His greatest legacy is not the practice he built or the farm he created, but the people he loved and the lives he touched.

Charles is survived by his wife, Gina; his children, Mark, Emily, Becky, and Kristin; his grandchildren, Harrison, Zoe, Max, Ben, Gaby, and Kaitlynn; his brother, John; and countless friends and loved ones. He will be deeply missed and never forgotten.