Alan Mitchell Stolzenberg
Alan Mitchell Stolzenberg, 64, of Morgantown, W.Va., passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 23, 2018, after a long battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He was born in Pittsburgh to the late Irving Stolzenberg and Ferne Fiedler. Although his dad passed away when he was little, he was lovingly raised by his mother and stepfather, the late Edmond Siegel. He grew up in the Stanton Heights neighborhood where he attended Sunnyside Elementary and met his future wife, Merle Persky, in kindergarten (though they did not begin dating until late high school). He later graduated from Peabody High School. Alan and Merle attended the University of Chicago together, graduating in 1976. They married in 1977. Alan completed a doctorate in chemistry at Stanford University and a post-doctorate at the University of California Berkeley. In 1982, they moved to Boston, where Alan taught and researched at Brandeis University. Their daughters Emily and Jackie were born there. In 1989, the family moved to Morgantown and Alan began to teach at West Virginia University. Their son Stephen was born shortly thereafter. Alan was proud of his contributions to the WVU and Morgantown community. He served as faculty senate chair and then faculty secretary; was the driving force for the WVU Phi Beta Kappa Society chapter for many years and served on committees at the national level; and was an active member of the Tree of Life Congregation. He will be remembered for his warmth, generosity, sense of humor and encyclopedic knowledge on many topics. He is survived by his wife, Merle; three children Emily, Jackie and Stephen; son-in-law Matthew; two sisters, Sheryl and Risa; and grandsons Eli and Jesse. Donations can be made in Alan’s memory to the WVU Cancer Institute Comfort Fund, which provides financial assistance to cancer patients struggling to afford treatment and its related expenses (food, lodging, transportation, supplies, etc.) in addition to paying for everyday life expenses so they can focus on getting better. Donations can be made online at https://give.wvu.edu/wvumedicine-wvucancerinstitute (select Comfort Fund from the list) or by mailing a check payable to the WVU Foundation, with Comfort Fund on the Memo line to: PO Box 1650, Morgantown, WV 26507-1650.
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