Dr. Bernard Passman ’55, a prominent Hartford physician, died on December 25, 2009, in West Hartford, Connecticut.

He was born in Portland, on March 27, 1933, and graduated from Portland High School. After Bowdoin, where he was a member of Alpha Rho Upsilon fraternity, he graduated from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1959. He trained in general surgery with a specialty in obstetrics and gynecology at Bellevue Medical Center in New York City from 1959 to 1963, and was board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology. He served in the Air Force Medical Corps under the Berry Plan for Physicians with the rank of captain, and was stationed in Alconbury, England, and Izmir, Turkey. After his discharge in 1966, he began 45 years of private practice in Hartford. He served on the staff of Mount Sinai Hospital, Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and the University of Connecticut Medical Center. He was an active member of Beth El Temple in West Hartford, and a member of the Bowdoin College 1794 Society. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Marlene Ganezer Passman; a son, Dr. Marc Passman ’87; a daughter, Michelle Passman Parven ’90; five grandchildren; and a brother, Howard Passman. He was pre-deceased by a sister, Anne Woolf.