Leon Root, MD
1929 - 2015
Dr. Leon Root, devoted husband, father, grandfather, orthopedic surgeon and role model to many, peacefully passed away on Monday, September 21, 2015 surrounded by loved ones. Dr. Root established Hospital for Special Surgery's pediatric service in 1972 and spent 25 years as Chief of Pediatric Orthopedics. He also was appointed President of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine in 1988. He authored several books including “No More Aching Back.” In addition to his private practice, Dr. Root derived great pleasure and satisfaction from teaching residents and treating inner-city children with monthly visits to elementary schools throughout Manhattan and the Bronx through the hospital's Pediatric Orthopedic Outreach Program, or POP, which he founded in 1987. He was also the director of the HSS Department of Rehabilitation which lead to the Leon Root, M.D. Motion Analysis Laboratory, one of the most advanced in the country. He was the recipient of the Healthcare Chaplaincy's Wholeness of Life Award, and the Hospital for Special Surgery's first Lifetime Achievement Award. For his forty-plus years of service the medical wing of the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County is named after him and he was recognized for his dedication to teaching and mentoring with the first Mentorship Award of the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. The youngest of five children of Sadie and Max Root, Dr. Root was an all-American football player at Rutgers University class of 1951 and was inducted in the Rutgers Football Hall of Fame in 1992. He served in the Navy as lieutenant commander. He attended New York Medical College, did his residency at St. Joseph's Hospital, and his fellowship at Hospital for Special Surgery where he proudly served as an attending surgeon for his entire career. Leon and his beloved wife, Paula, were the first couple to receive the 2010 United Hospital Fund's Distinguished Community Service Award for the tangible improvements they have made in the lives of thousands of New Yorkers. In addition to countless friends and generations of surgeons, Leon was devoted to his family and is survived by his wife of 54 years Paula, son Matthew, daughter Lili and her husband Peter Bianchi, and four adoring grandchildren, Beau and Leigh Root, Quincy and Aaron Bianchi. Services will be on Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 10:30am Temple Emanu-El, Fifth Avenue at 65th Street. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Pediatric Orthopedic Outreach program at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Published in The New York Times from Sept. 22 to Sept. 23, 2015
