Kenneth L. Kershbaum, cardiologist

Posted 3/27/13

Dr. Kenneth Lowell Kershbaum, 70, formerly of Chestnut Hill, a nationally recognized cardiologist, died March 19 of lymphoma at his home in Center City Philadelphia.

Dr. Kershbaum practiced …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Kenneth L. Kershbaum, cardiologist

Posted

Dr. Kenneth Lowell Kershbaum, 70, formerly of Chestnut Hill, a nationally recognized cardiologist, died March 19 of lymphoma at his home in Center City Philadelphia.

Dr. Kershbaum practiced internal medicine and cardiology at Pennsylvania Hospital for more than 40 years. He served twice on the hospital’s executive committee and for more than 20 years on its Cardiology Foundation.

He also had been an associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania for nearly four decades and in 1986 won the prestigious Viner Teaching Award. He had many peer-reviewed articles published in leading medical publications, including the American Heart Journal and Circulation.

He was known for refusing to “watch the clock” while examining patients, whom he served with devotion, compassion, meticulous attention to detail and problem-solving acumen.

Raised in Chestnut Hill, Dr. Kershbaum lived in the community with his wife, the former Susan Sions, for 30 years before moving to Center City in 2008. He attended the Miquon School and graduated from the William Penn Charter School. He received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson Medical College.

As a young person, he was a nationally ranked tennis player and participated in the Boys U.S. National Tennis Championships in 1958. The next year, at age 17, he became the youngest men’s tennis champion in the history of the Philmont Country Club.

He was a member of both the tennis and squash teams at Cornell University and was still playing tennis and teaching his grandchildren the game up until the final months of his life.

Dr. Kershbaum also served on the board of Springside School for six years.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters Kathy Evans, of Atlanta, and Sharon Kershbaum, of Washington, D.C; his mother, Judith Kershbaum Jacobs; sisters Marjorie Shiekman and Susan Stevens, and four grandchildren. Dr. Kershbaum's father, the late Dr. Alfred Kershbaum, also was a cardiologist.

Memorial donations may be made to the Joan Karnell Cancer Center of Pennsylvania Hospital, 230 W. Washington Square, Suite 102, Philadelphia, PA 19106, or to the Abramson Cancer Center, 3535 Market St., Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104 – WF

obituaries