Dr. Robert Haspel, 89, local philanthropist Submitted by N.O.V.A. Times Picayune 04-9-2006 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ A memorial service will be held Friday for Dr. Robert Haspel of New Orleans who died Sept. 4 in Dallas, where he had evacuated after Hurricane Katrina. He was 89. A lifelong New Orleanian who had been suffering from bladder cancer, Dr. Haspel rode out the storm with his wife and son Robert at Touro Infirmary, where he was being treated for internal bleeding. The next day, he was driven to Alexandria and flown to Dallas, where he was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital. He died there of complications from a Sept. 2 operation. Dr. Haspel, an internist, graduated from Isidore Newman School, Tulane University and Tulane University School of Medicine. He started his internship at Touro in 1939. While there, he scrubbed up with Dr. Rudolph Matas, a pioneering surgeon and public health leader, for what would turn out to be the venerable doctor's last operation. During World War II, Dr. Haspel served in the Louisiana State University Medical Unit, which was sent to Africa in 1943. While working there, the young doctor was able to treat soldiers with penicillin, the drug that was used widely for the first time during that conflict. In 1944, Dr. Haspel, a captain, was posted to Italy. While there, he worked with an intensive-care unit, a concept he brought back to Touro when he rejoined the staff in 1946. Dr. Haspel, who taught at LSU School of Medicine, was a former member of Touro's Board of Managers and the Touro Infirmary Foundation. He also was on the boards of the Orleans Parish Medical Society, the Jewish Endowment Fund, Longue Vue Gardens and City Park's Botanical Garden. Using a bequest from his uncle, Dr. Haspel led the drive to create the Edward Haspel Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Touro complex. Established in 1996, the center offered a barrage of information -- in booklets, on videotapes and on the Internet -- that anyone can use at no cost. Dr. Haspel and his wife, Shirley, were a philanthropic team in New Orleans, supporting programs such as Summerbridge, the Louisiana Children's Museum, My House, Dollars for Scholars, the New Orleans Council for Young Children, the New Orleans Museum of Art, Woldenberg Village and Friends of City Park. In 1993, they were given the Jewish Endowment Foundation's Tzedakah Award, an honor based on the concept of doing good for its own sake, not for personal gain. They received the Hannah G. Solomon Award in 1996 from the National Council of Jewish Women. Three years later, the Anti-Defamation League gave them the A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award. Touro Infirmary gave Dr. Haspel the Judah Touro Award, named for its founder, in 2000. In addition to his wife, survivors include three sons, David Haspel of Los Angeles, Robert Haspel of Santa Fe, N.M., and John Haspel; and seven grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Friday at noon at Temple Sinai, 6227 St. Charles Ave. Visitation will begin at noon. Bultman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.