Dr. Gerson Aronovitz, a DeKalb pediatrician for nearly 50 years, was usually just a phone call away.
He routinely told new, and not-so-new, parents that he would rather they call and the problem be minor than they not realize the issue is major and wait until the next morning for an office visit, said daughter, Caroline Adelman, who lives in Singapore.
“He was especially good with new mothers,” Adelman said of her father. “He always knew just what to say to them. And that’s why they loved him.”
Called Dr. A by his young patients, Gerson Harvey Aronovitz, of DeKalb County, died Monday from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 80. A graveside service is planned for 9 a.m., Thursday at Arlington Memorial Park, Sandy Springs. H.M. Patterson & Son, Arlington Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
A native of New York, Aronovitz came to Atlanta in the ’60s after completing medical school at Syracuse University. He worked off a tuition grant from the Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researching inner ear infections. After his work was done, he decided to open his pediatric practice, Adelman said.
“He wanted to help sick children, and he didn’t like the sight of blood, so pediatrics was right up his alley,” she said.
Aronovitz practiced solo for 47 years, and he had the help of his wife for the bulk of that time. Aronovitz married the former Avis Yaffee in 1955, and the couple raised four daughters. She ran the administrative arm of his Clairmont Road office. When Avis Aronovitz died in 1999, the couple had been married for 44 years. One of their daughters, Betsy Aronovitz, died in 2011.
When he retired in 2009, saying goodbye to his young patients was not easy, Adelman said. Many of the parents of current patients had once been children in that very office.
“I would have taken my baby to him in a heartbeat,” said Pamela Councill, who was a former patient, along with her four older brothers. “I had my baby after he retired, and I called his daughter to ask who else is out there like him. I know my parents appreciated his devotion, and I would appreciate it now, being the parent who has a question at 10 p.m. It would be nice if the doctor who sees my child could tell me what to do.”
In his Briarcliff Woods neighborhood, Aronovitz wasn’t just known for the care he gave children, but also the attention he gave his two greenhouses of orchids. Aronovitz and his wife made a habit of collecting and growing various types of orchids, which were often the talk of the neighborhood and the various botanical organizations of which the Aronovitzs were members.
“He gave attention to the smallest details,” said family friend Liane Levetan. “And you saw this level of caring from him with children, adults and flowers.”
In addition to Adelman, Aronovitz is survived by daughters, Pamela Aronovitz of Los Angeles and Tracy Dorfman of Atlanta; brother, Martin Aronovitz of Colorado Springs; sister, Fraeda Parish of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and five grandchildren.
