(Jewish Exponent via JTA) — Dr. Gilbert Liss was an OB-GYN with a practice in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He delivered more than 8,000 babies in his career.
“When I close my eyes and think about my dad, I feel his genuine joy for seeing me, the hand squeeze or arm around me walking side by side, the elation of watching him revel in his grandchildren and the beauty of the true love affair he had with my mom,” his daughter Abbe Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Liss died Dec. 18 after a one-week illness with COVID-19 and a years-long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 91.
He graduated from Olney High School (now Olney Charter High School) and earned a degree in accounting from Temple University. After college, he entered the Navy and served as a lieutenant for two years during the Korean War. In 1953, he married Hermine Betty Eisenberg.
He initially planned to join his father in the family business, Louis Bakery, but decided instead to attend medical school and earned his degree from Temple University (now the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University). Liss interned at Philadelphia General Hospital and served a residency at Temple University Hospital.
In addition to being on the board of his synagogue, Congregation B’nai Jacob, and being its fundraising chair, Liss channeled his experience from years in the family bakery to bake challahs and hamantaschen for fellow congregants.
His son Jon said he was inspired by his father’s work ethic and that as a child, people would approach him to say how much they appreciated his father’s care.
This article was originally published in the Jewish Exponent as part of its COVID-19 obituary coverage.
