BERNARD ZILBERG, M.D.

FORT WORTH – Bernard Zilberg, M.D., D.C.H., M.R.C.P, E.R.C.P., A.B.P, 93, died Friday, May 31st, 2019 peacefully in his home surrounded by family and friends. Services were held on Sunday, June 2nd in the Kombleet Chapel. He was laid to rest in Ahavath Shalom Cemetery alongside his wife Dorene Golin Zilberg (1930-2002). Memorials: Those who wish to honor Dr. Zilberg’s memory, please make contributions in his name to any of the following: The National Children’s Cancer Society, Jewish Family Services (Fort Worth), and Meals on Wheels (Tarrant County). Dr. Bernard Zilberg was born to David Zilberg (formerly Pincus Zylberberg) and Zilla Jarwitz, Polish and Lithuanian immigrants, on April 27, 1926 in Paarl, Cape Province, South Africa. He earned his M.D. from the School of Medicine in Cape Town in December 1949, followed by a Diploma in Child Health from the University of London, and his Membership in the Royal College of Physicians from the University of Edinburgh in 1953. After two years at the Children’s Hospital at the University of Birmingham, he returned to South Africa where he served as Chief Resident and Academic Fellow in the Department of Pediatrics at Groote Schuur and Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. He married Dorene Golin Zilberg in 1958 in the Garden Synagogue in Cape Town. They moved to what was then Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (today’s Harare, Zimbabwe) where, in addition to going into private practice, he served on the boards of directors of various hospitals, and was on the teaching faculty of School of Medicine at the University of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He was a trail blazer in neonatology, introducing new techniques to a country then lacking in such innovations. He wrote extensively about a range of diseases of newborns and children specific to Southern Africa. He published 19 scientific papers in distinguished medical journals. In 1962 he received a fellowship to study newborn care at the Boston Children’s Hospital. In 1971 he was awarded the title Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, an honor bestowed on those who have achieved eminence in their career. In 1979, the Zilberg family moved to Big Spring, West Texas where Dr. Zilberg was employed by Malone and Hogan Multi-Specialty Clinic. He and his wife transferred to Fort Worth in 1984, where Dr. Zilberg assumed the position of Chief of Pediatrics for the Permanente Medical Association of Texas, Tarrant County (later the Sierra Health Plan), with which he had a distinguished career, serving on its Board of Directors and heading up multiple regional medical task forces. He retired from full time practice when he was 74, but continued to be widely sought out as a Locum Tenens working in pediatric offices around Tarrant County until he was 88. He lived at home and independently with part-time assistance of his caregiver, Betsy Ann Frost until his last days. Friends and colleagues described Bernard as a true mensch, the epitome of a gentleman. While his standards were high, as were his expectations for the people around him, he was full of kindness and wisdom, never a rude word spoken or unkind action taken. He was highly popular with his peers, staff and all of his co-workers, and was adored and long remembered by his patients and their parents. He leaves behind his children Neil, Jonathan and Elana Zilberg, grandsons Sam, Jonah and Asa Zilberg, daughter in-law Sandra Hamid, and “son-in-law,” Bahram Yavari. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of BERNARD ZILBERG, M.D. please visit our Sympathy Store.