Dr. Perry Edward Gross MD

Perry Edward Gross, MD passed away peacefully at home on December 5, 2015. Perry was born January 19, 1926 in Jeannette, PA where he spent his childhood years. He was on his high school tennis team and played violin in the Pennsylvania all-state orchestra. He attended the University of Pittsburgh for two years before joining the US Army in 1944. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and served as an instructor at Camp Croft before being assigned to a troop ship destined for Okinawa. While en route, the war ended and he became part of the first occupation force and was responsible for the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. After completing his service he returned to the University of Pittsburgh, attended the Chicago Medical School and married his college sweetheart Harriet Florence Bernstein. After a rotating internship at Cook County Hospital he and Harriet relocated to Dallas where he started a family medicine practice which continued until his retirement in 2007. He continued to be involved in medicine as special assistant to the president of the Baylor Foundation until 2013.

Perry was deeply involved in the medical and civic communities in Dallas. He was instrumental in the founding of Dallas Suicide Prevention, served as president of Jewish Family Service, and served on the boards of SIECUS, Planned Parenthood and Temple Emanu-El. He chaired the Health Advisory Council and Health Benefits Subcommittee of the Dallas Independent School District and served on the Advisory Board of VITAS Hospice. He was chief of the family practice departments at St. Paul Hospital (1954-1978) and Baylor University Medical Center (1974-2007), served as chair of the Baylor University Medical Center Medical Board, was Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical School and had Chairs endowed in his honor at both Baylor University Medical Center and UT Southwestern. He was invited to teach UT Southwestern’s first course for medical students on the subject of human sexuality. He took a profound interest in his patients and saw to it that they always received the best possible care. He treated everyone, regardless of wealth or status, with the same deep and abiding respect. He loved people, was a great listener and took a true and sincere joy in the accomplishments of others. He was a wonderful son, brother, father, grandfather and uncle, an avid reader and an accomplished tennis player. He appreciated a good meal with friends and the beauty of the world around him.

Perry was preceded in death by his parents Esther and Abraham Gross, his beloved wife Harriet and his sister Rosalind. He is survived by his sister Ruth Silverman and brother-in-law Daniel Radman, son Robert and his wife Maya, son Jonathan and his wife Leah, his daughter Jane Gross Manne and husband Burton and by his grandchildren Perry Jordan Gross, Elizabeth Miriam Gross, Benjamin Henry Gross, Richard Joseph Manne and Emma Rose Manne. He will be missed by all who had to privilege to know him.

A graveside service will be held at 1:00 PM on Monday, December 7, 2015 at Temple Emanu-El Cemetery. Donations may be made to The Perry and Harriet Gross Fund of the Jewish Family Service Foundation 972.437-9950 x259.