Irving Wolfson: Activist, Humanist, Physician
Dr. Irving Norman Wolfson, 90, died peacefully in his sleep on July 8th at his home in Worcester. Born July 20, 1919, in New York City, Dr. Wolfson graduated from Columbia University and received his M.D. from Yale in 1943. Dr. Wolfson served as an Army medical officer in India and China during World War II. Following an internship at Mt. Sinai Hospital and several residencies, he relocated to Worcester, where he practiced first internal medicine and later cardiology. He held many leadership positions in the Worcester medical community, including Chief of Medicine at Fairlawn Hospital, Chief of Cardiology at Worcester City Hospital, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He was a member of multiple medical associations and past president of the Worcester Heart Association.
Throughout his life, Irving Wolfson was a champion of progressive political causes. As a teenager in the 1930s, he campaigned for socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas. In the 1960s he was active in the civil rights movement and was outspoken in his opposition to the Vietnam War. He was a long-time and generous supporter of Amnesty International, UNICEF, and the American Civil Liberties Union. He had served on the board of the Worcester ACLU, the board of the Worcester Chapter of the NAACP, and was a past president of the Worcester branch of the United World Federalists.
Dr. Wolfson was active in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester for many decades and had served as a member of its board. As a life-long humanist, he lent his wit, wisdom, and scholarship to energizing the humanist spirit of his church community. He was a staunch advocate of reason and rationality in the conduct of human affairs.
In his later years he became an amateur musician and then an accomplished painter. He felt that he had arrived artistically when someone stole a painting from one of his shows. He loved the challenge of chess, playing weekly at the Greater Worcester Chess Club and nearly daily on the Internet. For much of his life he was an avid swimmer. He was also a prolific reader, devouring nonfiction on a wide range of topics; he was particularly interested in the origins of human nature and the scientific foundations of religious belief. At once private and gregarious, Irving enjoyed both the solitude of his home and an active social and cultural life in the greater Worcester community.
Irving Wolfson was preceded in death in 1983 by his beloved wife of 37 years, Annabel Kreider Wolfson. He is survived by his sister, Florence Howitt, of Westport, Connecticut; three children: Richard Wolfson and his wife Artley Swift Wolfson of Middlebury, Vermont; Helen Wolfson and her husband Eric Thomas of Durham, North Carolina; and Charles Wolfson of Westborough. He is also survived by six grandchildren and one great-grandchild: Sarah Wolfson and her daughter Vera of Montreal; Carrie Wolfson of Washington, D.C.; Zachary Wolfson of Hamden, Connecticut; Elissa Wolfson of Westborough; Jeremy Ellison and Emily Ellison of Durham, North Carolina. Irving also leaves many friends in the Worcester community and beyond.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 21st, at 3:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester at 90 Holden Street. In lieu of flowers, Irving requested that donations be made to Amnesty International USA, 5 Penn Plaza, New York, New York, 10001, or to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, 90 Holden Street, Worcester, MA, 01606-3411.
Irving Wolfson lived a long, full life and was a role model to many. He will be greatly missed.
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