Dr. David Kallman Kanter, 82, of Lenox died after a brief illness on March 18, 2020 in Dallas, Texas, while visiting his son. David was born Nov. 2, 1937, in Pittsfield. He was raised by his parents, Sydney and Rose Kanter, and his grandparents Max and Ethel Chesney, who had migrated in the late 1800s from the Russian-Polish border and settled in the Berkshires. Max started the first home milk delivery for Pittsfield. David attended Redfield and Dawes elementary schools, graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1954 and attended the University of Vermont, graduating in 1959. He received his doctor of dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963.
He married Dorothy DeCecio of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, and volunteered to serve as a captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps during the Vietnam War. He served for two years at Fort Ord and Defense Language School in Carmel, California. In 1965 he opened The Dentists LLC, a private practice in Teaneck, New Jersey, to be closer to family.
As a dentist, David was a perfectionist. As a result, he was invited to teach at Fairleigh Dickinson University dental school. In the early 1980s, he received a special degree as a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry. He served his patients, who came to his Teaneck office from all over the New York City metropolitan area, until retiring in 2003 and returning to live in his beloved Berkshires.
In the Berkshires, he provided free dental care for low-income adults at Volunteers in Medicine in Great Barrington, and served on its board of directors. In and around his historic Lenox home, he spent many hours cultivating beautiful flower and vegetable gardens as well as reading about history and archeology, subjects he enjoyed with a passion.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Kanter; his children: Mark Kanter and wife Heather Hutchison and son Dante, Daniel Kanter and wife Marianne Gargour and sons Giovanni and Nicholas, Elisabeth Kanter Miller and husband Peter Miller and children Carmen and Felix, and Sara Kanter and her sons Liam and Logan Tighe-Kanter. Donations in David’s honor should be directed to Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and the Lenox Historical Society. A private family service will take place in David’s honor at a later date.
