Abraham Walfish 1921 - 2022

New Rochelle, N.Y.— Dr. Abraham S. Walfish, 100 years old, passed away Saturday January 29 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. Abe was born in Le Havre, France on April 3, 1921 and was naturalized soon after as a U.S. citizen. After excelling in school in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., he graduated in 1943 from Columbia University Optometry School. In the same year, he married his childhood sweetheart, Beatrice Kaplan, and was inducted into the United States Navy, in which he served until 1945 as part of the Navy Seabees.
Returning to New Rochelle after the War, Abe started a successful optometry practice and began a family. He was an active member of the Lions, where he was involved in providing optometric services for low income patients. After moving to Eastchester, he joined Genesis Hebrew Center. On returning to New Rochelle several years later, he was involved in the Wykagyl Crossways Neighborhood Association and Beth El Synagogue, where he attended daily services for almost forty years.
He filled his retirement years with more than a decade of coursework at SUNY Purchase, where he became a fixture. Abe was a man of faith and learning who was very gregarious and quick with a joke. Abe loved to read and to tinker, and he was a great lover of classical music. He is survived by his children Beth Susan Levine, Joel Mark Walfish, and Andrew Michael Wallach; their spouses Lyn Small Walfish and Peggy P. Yannas; and by five grandsons: Jared Alexander Walfish, Ethan Tyler Walfish, Marc Ulysses Wallach, Nicholas Andrew Wallach, and Eric Jason Wallach. Funeral services will be graveside at King David Cemetery in Putnam Valley, New York at 1:30 pm on Tuesday. The family will sit shiva at Beth El Synagogue, New Rochelle Tuesday through Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. following the 5 p.m. evening service. The family will also sponsor a zoom shiva at 8:15 pm on Thursday—please email [email protected] for further details.