Dr. Irving Waltman

Dr. Irving “Chick” Waltman passed away peacefully at his home on Jan. 5, 2016 at the age of 100 years and nine months surrounded by his family and his wife Frances Ann Epstein-Waltman. For those who knew him his passing leaves the world less illuminated, less warm, less intimate. He represented an exceptional combination of generosity, integrity, intellectual questing and courage, loyalty, dignity and forbearance. His habits and manner inspired friends and family to become their best selves without judgment or reproof. His passing leaves a large void in many lives. He is deeply missed. He was born March 23,1915 at the Hartford Hospital.

He graduated Northwest Grammar School and Weaver High School, where he was salutatorian and a star athlete. He then went on to Amherst College and Yale School of Medicine where he graduated in 1941.

He held membership in Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Delta Epsilon, honorary societies. He interned at the Hartford Hospital from 1941 through 1943 as one of the first medical interns. During World War II, Dr. Waltman served as an Army surgeon in the U.S. and Germany from 1943 – 1945. He was discharged as a major in 1945. He was a surgical resident from 1946 – 1950 at The Hartford Hospital and Memorial Sloan – Kettering in New York City. He had an active private practice at The Hartford Hospital in general surgery from 1950, retiring in 1989. In the course of his long service to the Hartford community he was known for availability and extraordinary competence. He was proud to be the recipient of a Hadassah Myrtle Wreath Award in 1974 and honored again by Hadassah in 2000. He was touched by the outpouring of friendship on that occasion. Together with his wife Fran, he established the Edward Lewis Wallant Book Award, now recognized nationally. It is presented annually to a writer whose fiction is considered to have significance for American Jews. He was a founding member of the Hartford Jewish Historical Society in 1971. Through The Greenberg Center at the University of Hartford, Dr. and Mrs. Waltman have created ongoing programs for cantorial music, Yiddish culture and film. Always an athlete, Chick considered taking care of one’s body a sacred obligation. He was an outstanding tennis and squash player. His love for swimming included long distance ocean swims at his cherished summer home in Westerly, Rhode Island. His outstanding 75-year tenure as a member at the Hartford YMCA borders on legend. In fact, he outlived the facility. He was inducted into the Greater Hartford Hall of Fame of Jewish Athletes and sports figures. A grammarian, he was a lover of and stickler for correct speech. This carried over into Chick’s love for the Hebrew language. He spent treasured evenings in a Hebrew speaking group and studied the language enthusiastically. Dr. Waltman’s maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Harris Chesky, were founding members of The Emanuel Synagogue. His father David Waltman lived to be 101 and three months of age. He is survived by many loving friends and family including his wife and beshert Fran of 73 years; his sister Roz of Del Ray, Fla.; his children Dr. Richard (Ruth) of Gig Harbor, Wash., Marjorie (Dr. Howard Feldman) of Roseburg, Ore., Phyllis (Taras Mizrahi) of Gainesville, Fla., Laurence (Joseph Lembo) of New York, N.Y.; his grandchildren Julian Feldman (fiance Carolyn Tan) of London, England, Matt Waltman (Audrey) of Seattle, Wash., Anna Dooley (Dr. Matthew) of St. Louis, Mo. and Danny Waltman of Gig Harbor, Wash; his great-grandchildren Sebastian, Eli, Eva, Hugo and Carmen. WEINSTEIN MORTUARY