Deceased April 15, 1992

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In Memory

In April of 1992 Jerold Frankel died. The cause of Jerold’s passing was depression, a disease about which too little is known. At the time of his death, he lived with his wife, Diane Gingold, in Kensington, Md. His dental practice, Jerold M. Frankel & Associates PC, was located in Washington, D.C.

Born in Atlanta, he was educated at Lovett School. At Amherst he was a French major. He participated in the Masquers.

After Amherst, Jerold obtained two Harvard degrees: a D.M.D. from the School of Dental Medicine and an M.P.H. from the School of Public Health. After he received his D.M.D., Jerold worked as a public health dentist with the Boston Department of Health and Hospitals. He also lectured at Tufts and served in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 1974 he formed a company, Jerold Enterprises, Inc., which developed and marketed close-up photographic kits and provided consulting services in healthcare planning and delivery. In 1976 Jerold started a private practice of dentistry in Boston. He also worked at the Peter Brent Brigham Hospital.

In 1978 he opened his dental group practice in Washington, D.C. Shortly afterwards he opened a second practice and started a new dental service. His Group Dental Group Plan was a dental health maintenance organization designed to provide dental care for employer groups. In the early 1980s he was nominated for the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Person of 1983 by the District of Columbia’s chapter. He also lectured to many groups on marketing dental practices. In 1988 he became the owner of Healthcare Electronic Clearinghouse, a nationwide firm verifying health insurance claims. Among Jerold’s patients were many of his classmates, who praised his personal service.

Jerold was also an accomplished artist, who worked with steel sculpture. He had taught sculpture at Mount Holyoke.

He was an avid supporter of Amherst. Jerold was an associate agent for the alumni fund. He was both the president and treasurer of the Washington, D.C., association. He also served as an alumni advisor for the college. Jerold truly loved Amherst. This is probably best expressed by the following passage provided to the class by his widow:

“Jerold continually spoke of his days at Amherst with a respect and love that flowered from the direct experience of a quality liberal arts education. He had a strong desire to help the college continue that liberal arts tradition for future students and only regretted that he could not do more.

“It was his hope that his son Nathaniel would be able to follow in his footsteps. When Nathaniel is considering his options, it is one that will be encouraged.

“On behalf of Jerold’s family, I thank Amherst for the education, experience and memories it provided.”

Surviving Jerold, in addition to his wife and his son, are his parents, Norman and Harriet Rosenzweig Frankel of Atlanta; his maternal grandmother, Mulia Rosenzweig of Atlanta; and a sister, Ellen Matson of New York City. Our class’s deepest sympathies go to Diane and his family.

John McKenzie ‘66