Pediatrician Leon Charash, 84, dies

In February 2001, Dr. Leon I. Charash testified before a Senate subcommittee and urged the lawmakers to "take muscular dystrophy research to the next level" by increasing the National Institutes of Health's funding for it from $20 million to $120 million.

His Capitol Hill appearance demonstrated that he was passionate about stopping the disease that cripples children and adults. For decades, Charash was national chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He also was a staple on the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon.

A pediatrician whose career was marked by rigorously battling muscular dystrophy and treating his patients with compassion, Charash of Woodbury died at home Wednesday after a long illness. He was 84.

"He had such a passion for medicine," said Phyllis Charash, his wife of 58 years. "He loved every single day going to work even though he was seeing terrible things like children with brain tumors or epilepsy or spina bifida. He just wanted to contribute as much to the families and give them as much as possible."

An Irvington, N.J., native, Charash attended Cornell University as an undergraduate and medical student. The university was so impressed with his academic promise that it provided him with full-tuition scholarships as both an undergraduate and a med student.

As a child, he was a friend of Lewis, the older, quirky kid who became a world-famous comedian who hosted the annual telethon. And though the two youngsters lost track of each other, they reconnected as adults because of their shared concern for people with neuromuscular diseases.

Charash served in the Air Force from 1952 to 1954, bringing his young bride to his duty station in Sculthorpe in northern England where he treated service personnel. He was honorably discharged as a captain.

SEE PHOTOSNotable deaths: Long Islanders we recently lost

He completed a residency in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and did additional training at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, which created a pediatric neurology fellowship for him. He later opened a practice at his home in Freeport.

Charash, who was sent by the U.S. government to Brazil, to start a cerebral palsy clinic, grew to be a respected expert who was a consultant for most Long Island hospitals.

He was a member of such organizations as the Child Neurology Society and the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. For fun, he liked to play bridge and to read, his wife said.

He was a member of North Shore Synagogue in Syosset.

SEE PHOTOSRecent notable deaths

Besides his wife, Charash is survived by a daughter, Barbi Yellin of Merrick; three sons, Bruce of Westbury, William of Burlington, Vt., and Michael of Boca Raton, Fla.; and eight grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held today at noon at Gutterman's funeral home on Jericho Turnpike in Woodbury, with burial following at Beth Moses Cemetery in Farmingdale.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Charash's memory to the Gurwin Jewish Healthcare Foundation, the UJA-Federation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, North Shore Synagogue or the charity of one's choice.