Saul Rakoff

Dr. Saul Julian Rakoff, of White Plains, New York, 87 years old, passed away on May 11th, 2020. Saul was born in New York City, to Morris and Rebecca Rakoff on March 31st, 1933. He attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City graduating in 1949. Graduating from Syracuse University in 1952 with an A.B., Saul then attended the State University of New York earning a medical degree in 1956. Saul married Maxine Samuels on March 23rd, 1958 and they stayed in a loving marriage until Maxine's death from Parkinson's disease in 2001. After serving one term in the U.S. Navy as a ships' physician, he began his medical career at Montefiore Medical Center as a Radiologist. Saul continued there for 56 years retiring on July 1st 2019 as the second longest tenured physician.

Dedicating his career to medicine, training hundreds of residents and dozens of fellows, Saul received many awards and acknowledgements for his service including amongst others: The Medical Society of the State of New York Citation of 50 years of service, The Harold G. Jacobson Outstanding Teacher Award from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and The Teacher of the Year Award from Montefiore Medical Center.

With his time away from medicine Saul enjoyed reading, daily cross-word puzzles and cheering on all the New York sports teams while having an extra passion for his alma mater Syracuse, the Yankees and Giants. A fan of television, movies and Broadway, Saul impressed his grandchildren with being a loyal fan of Games of Thrones.

With his work family Saul enjoyed regular trips to The Botanical Gardens taking in countless flower shows and holiday train shows. In addition, a tradition of dining at Kosher restaurants with colleagues filled many an evening.

As a long-term member of the Congregation Kol Ami Synagogue, Saul realized a lifetime dream of visiting Israel with his family in 2014. He enjoyed travel with trips to Italy and California with his family.

Saul is preceded in death by his wife Maxine and his brother Stanley. He is survived by his two sons Martin (fiancée Laura) and Joseph, his grandchildren Alexander (Beth), Michael (fiancée Delilah) and Cody (fiancée Jillian), and his great granddaughters Mikayla and Ava-Lynn.

Loved by his family and often lighting up a room with his smile, Saul was acknowledged as a man of few words but an awesome listener. Saul led by example on how to be a devoted son, brother, husband, father, officer, employee, and caring human being. There are no words to properly phrase how much he will be missed by family, friends, co-workers and others.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease.