Class Notes: September 2020

Harvey E. Finkel, MD' 59 and Abby J. Greenberg, MD' 59 Abby Greenberg and Harvey Finkel, two medical school alumni of the class of 1959, only casually acquainted in school, not in contact for 58 years, joined in mutual bliss July, 2018, in Brookline, Massachusetts. Harvey, having read in Alumni Today of the death of Abby’s husband, Gerald, also a member of that class, wrote a letter of sympathy to Abby. She was living in Roslyn Heights, New York, having had a career in pediatrics and public health, ending as commissioner of health of Nassau County. Harvey, also widowed, was retired from a career in hematology-oncology at Boston University Medical Center, where he was clinical professor of medicine. A correspondence ensued, then a first face-to-face meeting since Downstate graduation when Abby attended her granddaughter’s college graduation in the Boston area. Friendship deepened to a domestic relationship. Both are grateful to Alumni Today for enabling joint happiness, especially during this time of plague.

In Memoriam:*The Alumni Association recognizes in the “In Memoriam” section, not all alumni listed are recently deceased. As we become aware of the passing of our alumni we recognize them to provide their classmates with an update.

David F. Mahon, MD' 65 David F. Mahon, 81, died Sept. 2, 2020, in Bar Harbor. He was born in Peekskill, N.Y., July 30, 1939, the son of Francis J. and Clare C. (Reardon) Mahon.

He received a B.A. degree from St. Michael’s College in 1961 and his M.D. from the State University of New York in Brooklyn in 1965. After internship at the Boston City Hospital followed by two years in the U.S. Air Force, he began his radiology residency at the State University of New York in Syracuse in 1968.

To read the complete obituary, click here.

Steven Perlmutter, MD' 72

Dr. Steven Perlmutter passed away on September 10, 2020 after a bout with pancreatic cancer. He was devoted to the practice of Radiology. He completed his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins in 1968. After graduating from Downstate in 1972 he pursued a residency in general radiology at New York Hospital.

Dr. Perlmutter’s professional career was spent in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. He practiced at Stony Brook Hospital and Peconic Bay Hospital where in March of 2020 he was proclaimed Physician of the Year. As a member of the Suffolk County Medical Society he became President of the society. Additionally, he was also Director of the Peconic Bay Radiology Department for over 7 years.

Dr. Perlmutter was also interested in research and published many papers on topics in general radiology.

After a long and successful career Dr. Perlmutter retired and devoted his retirement to enjoying his many hobbies and interests. He loved to take courses in many areas and loved art history and American history as well as photography and taking long walks. His main hobby was photography and he spent many hours taking pictured and also spending time with his children and grandchildren.

Dr. Perlmutter and his wife Judy traveled all over the world and loved to see new places and new ideas. He also was very warm and outgoing and had many friends and associates. He will be very much missed by all.

Written by Constance Shames, M.D. ‘63

Sondra Warren Levin, MD' 81 Dr. Sondra Warren Levin, MD, age 63, of Olney, MD, lost her battle with chronic bronchiectasis, recurrent pneumonias, and lupus cerebritis and passed away on September 6, 2020 with her adoring husband at her side.  Born October 5, 1956 at the U.S. Air Force base in Swindon, England, she grew up in Waterbury, CT where she later graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1977.  While at a Harvard Hillel party in December 1974, she met the love of her life, Ronald Levin, and they were married in June 1976.  She received her medical degree from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in 1981 where she was hooded by her father, pediatrician Dr. Philip Warren. She subsequently completed her pediatrics residency at the University of Maryland and her Clinical Genetics fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She practiced General Pediatrics and Pediatric Genetics at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) and then the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) for 30 years, where she served as the Chief of Pediatric Genetics as well as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and an Adjunct Scientist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Section of Developmental Genetics, prior to her retirement in 2015. A triple-threat clinician-educator-researcher, she won numerous awards for her teaching and for her research. She published over 50 scholarly articles on a range of topics in Genetics. Shortly before her initial bout of lupus cerebritis in 2014, she was first author on a publication in Lancet Neurology on a novel treatment for neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.  She had a keen intellect, and there was never a genetics fact she did not know or could not readily find in her archives. 

Sondra was a devoted wife and a loving mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, and aunt.  Tragically, she fell terminally ill the very same day that her first granddaughter, Ella, was born.  She was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Philip Warren and Doris Warren.  She is survived by her husband of 44 years, Dr. Ronald Levin, Sc.D. of Olney, MD, and their sons Dr. Jay Levin, MD of Hadley, MA and David Levin of Philadelphia, PA. She is also survived by her grandson Joey and granddaughter Ella, both of Hadley, MA as well as by her brother Dr. Steven Warren, MD of St. Petersburg, FL, her niece Allison Warren Gottermeier, and her nephew Michael Warren.  Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers can be directed to Hillel International.