DR YAKOV (JACOB) VOLFSON

Dr Yakov (Jacob) Volfson was born in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia shortly after the Soviet Revolution. His drive to help people led him to study medicine, but World War II had other plans. He signed up for military service as a young medical student. After completing a brief course on military medicine, he was deployed to the front lines in the summer of 1941. He fought against the Nazy army until the very end and he made it to Berlin on May 9, 1945. Yakov’s fearless and heroic service during the war earned him numerous medals and awards , as well as respect and adoration of the soldiers he saved and the nurses he worked with. He returned from Berlin to compete his medical training in Moscow Medical Institute, where he met his future wife Vera. After graduation, 2 young physicians were deployed to the far east of Soviet Union, to the city of Khabarovsk. There, on the military base, their daughter Izabella was born. Yakov continued to serve as a military physician and was stationed all around the country: Tashkent, St.Petersburg, Tallinn to name a few. He ultimately retired from the military service in 1960 and moved to Riga, Latvia where he continued to practice medicine until 1994. His life mission was to lead, to serve and to heal. Whether he was in the hospital in Latvia, or at a gathering of the WWII veterans in West Hollywood, he made sure people remembered their doctor’s appointments, received vaccinations and scheduled colonoscopies and mammograms. He was a talented dancer and his warm smile could light up a room. He was a proud and loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Dr Yakov Volfson and Dr Vera Volfson inspired their daughter and both granddaughters to continue the family path and commit their lives to medicine. He is loved and remembered by his family. Yakov’s great-grandchildren hear stories about him and will carry Yakov’s memory and spirit into the next generation.