Leon M. Protass ’51
Leon M. Protass ’51 passed away on August 15, 2025. His son, Harlan, wrote:
I write to report the death of my father, Leon M. Protass, at age 95, on August 15, 2025. He graduated from Wesleyan University with honors in 1951. Upon graduation, he attended the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, from which he graduated in 1955. He was board certified in both Internal Medicine and Neurology and practiced in the field of neurology for close to 70 years. He was affiliated with both the Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine for approximately five decades and was on the Staff of New Rochelle Hospital (now a part of the Montefiore Medical Group) for roughly two decades. He also maintained a private practice in New Rochelle, NY, where he lived for more than 60 years.
Medicine and science were my father’s passion. He was widely respected for his diagnostic skills, intellectual approach to the practice of medicine and bedside manner. Even though he largely worked in urban areas, he always practiced medicine as if he were a small-town doctor in New Britain, Connecticut, where he was born on October 11, 1929 and raised by his parents, Benjamin and Beatrice Protass, alongside his sister, Judith Poliner, who predeceased him by 12 years.
He is survived by his wife of 60-plus years, Barbara Protass, his son, Harlan Protass, and his partner Charity Scribner; his son, Joshua Protass, and his wife, Julie Selsberg; four grandchildren (Sydney, Cole, Simon, and Meret), as well numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was beloved by all.
