Roman Rossleigh, a caring physician, committed family man and community-minded citizen, died of multiorgan failure on 14 September 2007 after a long battle with chronic illness.

Roman was born on 13 October 1919 in Kraków, Poland. His mother, a dermatologist, treated venereal diseases in women, and his father, a cardiologist, trained under Karel Wenckebach. When the Nazis invaded Poland, Roman was tortured, resulting in bilateral brachial plexus palsies and a left hemiparesis, which worsened over the years. He was incarcerated in Plaszów and then Mauthausen concentration camps and liberated on 5 May 1945 — a day he celebrated in later years as his “re-birthday”. He became a fourth generation physician after World War II, completing his medical degree in Lódz in 1946.