New Brunswick, NJ
Dr. Jerome Jacob Rolnick, 84, a long-time resident of
Highland Park and then New Brunswick, N.J., died Wednesday July 1 at St.
Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Born in Trenton, N.J., on August 27, 1930, Dr. Rolnick
received his BS degree in pre-med from Pennsylvania State University in 1954.
He earned an MS from New York University in 1956 and his medical degree from
the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, in 1963. While in
Belgium, he drove a taxi cab to learn the language and support his family, and taught
at the American School for English.
Returning to the United States, Dr. Rolnick completed his
medical residency at St. Peter’s hospital, specializing in cardiology, and was
selected as chief medical resident. Dr. Rolnick set up his private practice on
Easton Avenue in New Brunswick, and served as a cardiologist in a career
spanning four decades. He was one of the founders of the St. Peter’s cardiac
catheterization lab and president of the Middlesex County chapter of the American
Heart Association. He was appointed in 1972 to the faculty at the College of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – Rutgers Medical School. Dr. Rolnick was
the first physician in New Jersey to implant a pacemaker.
Dr. Rolnick enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed at
Fort Monmouth during the Korean War. He was awarded the National Defense
Service Medal.
Dr. Rolnick was also an accomplished carpenter, making fine
wooden boxes and wood furniture from his basement in Highland Park, which he called
J.M. Craftstudio. Some of what he made he sold at his wife’s Raritan Avenue
store, Margaret’s Craft Shop. He loved fishing, his ’66 Ford Mustang convertible,
and Long Beach Island. He kept a running list of life lessons in a book he
called “Rolnick’s Rules,” including what he felt was one of the most enduring:
“Life is a trade-off.”
Dr. Rolnick was married for 46 years to Margaret Kleinman Rolnick,
who survives him. He is also survived by six children, Karen Rolnick (Douglas
Munson), Lawrence Rolnick (Kimberly Rolnick), Susan Rolnick (Thomas Knight), Joshua
Rolnick (Marcella Kanfer Rolnick), Rebecca Rolnick-Fox (Brian Fox), and Jenn
Rolnick Borchetta (Frank Borchetta); eighteen grandchildren, Crystal, Karina
(Kurt), Erin, Layna (Sean), Blair, Austin, Brandon, Dillon, Niclas, Meaghan,
Emily, Meyer, Heshel, Lev, Pella, Jonah, Gideon, and Kaya; and one great
grandchild, Sloane.
The funeral service was held Friday, July 3, at 10 am at
Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, 222 Livingston Ave in New Brunswick, with
interment to follow at Beth Israel Cemetery in Woodbridge.
Memorial Donations may be made to Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, The American Heart Association, The American Heart/American Stroke Association or the Adirondak Council.
Arrangements are under the direction of theCrabiel
Parkwest Funeral Chapel, 239 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
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