Burt Wasserman of Baldwin Harbor: Dentist, 'worked to treat the underserved'
Burt Wasserman had a distinguished career in dentistry for over 60 years. Credit: Maxwell Glass
Burt Wasserman was a pioneer in the field of hospital dentistry, having worked with the Salvation Army to establish the dental department of Booth Memorial Hospital (now New York Presbyterian) in the mid-1960s.
He served as chairman of the department from its inception until 2015, but that was only one of many accomplishments in his career of more than 60 years.
“He worked to treat the underserved,’’ said his daughter Jane Glass of Syosset. “That’s what his life was about.’’
Wasserman, of Baldwin Harbor, died April 15 of complications related to COVID-19, his family said. He was 87.
Burton Wasserman was born Feb. 16, 1933, in Bensonhurst, the son of Maxwell and Dorothy Wasserman. He graduated Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and earned his undergraduate and dental degrees from New York University. He enlisted in the Army after graduating, and served as an Army dentist in Fort Lee, Virginia. When he left the Army, he moved back to New York, opening a dental practice in Flushing, Queens, in 1959.
In addition to his work at Booth Memorial, Wasserman started other programs, and he taught and mentored dental students. He provided dental care to HIV-positive patients during the AIDS crisis. But his private practice, where he treated generations of patients, was his “home,’’ according to Victoria Giordano, who was his assistant at the practice from 1974 until he retired in October 2018.
“It was just the two of us working together, so he was my boss. But he was my friend, and he was like my dad,’’ Giordano said.
Wasserman married his first wife, the former Toby Kopell, in 1957, and the couple had three children and lived in Manhasset Hills in the 1960s. Following a divorce, and a second marriage, he moved to Baldwin Harbor in the late 1990s, according to his grandson, Max Glass.
A big sports fan who loved the Rangers, Giants and Mets, Wasserman was an avid boater, according to his grandson.
“He loved being on the water,’’ Max Glass said. “I had the unique opportunity to go into the Jones Beach Inlet with him and watch the Blue Angels fly in the (Bethpage) Air Show from the water, as opposed to from the beach.’’
Wasserman’s daughter Beth Denitz of Philadelphia said her father treated everyone with the same respect.
“There was never a difference between the person working in the cafeteria or the barbershop, and the colonel in the Salvation Army,’’ Denitz said.
Burton Wasserman is survived by his wife, June, of Baldwin Harbor; a third daughter, Lisa Weinclaw of Baldwin Harbor; sons Mark Wasserman of Jericho and Dominick Napolitano of Bellmore; nine grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. He was predeceased by his sister, Deborah Greenberg, who died in March at age 93. He was buried at Beth Moses Cemetery on April 17 in a private family ceremony.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
