Dr. Robert L. Chesanow, 82, was born in Kearny, New Jersey, then traveled home to Great Barrington Massachusetts. After a reading test at age 5, he was allowed to start in third grade of the Bryant Elementary School. He graduated from Searles High School in 1951 at age 15 and from Union College in 1955.
A week after graduation from Albany Medical School in 1960, he married Jeanné Stewart, an elementary school teacher also from Great Barrington. The couple drove out to St. Louis where “Ches” did an year’s internship at the City Hospital of St. Louis (affiliated with Washington University) followed by a three-year neurology residency at the same school. In 1964 and ’65, they lived in Greenwich Village, New York City, where Ches was a postdoctoral fellow at Mount Sinai, continuing his brain research via the tissue culture method. Dr. Chesanow then joined the faculty of the neurology department at Washington University. He was proud to be nominated by his students to membership in AOA, the honor society of the medical profession.
He and Jeanné moved to Cheshire in 1979. For a short time, Ches had a neurology practice in Meriden, then joined the staff of Cedarcrest Hospital in Newington where he stayed for 20 years, becoming chief of the medical service. He loved classical music, listened to it every day, recorded it and often went to concerts at Tanglewood. He wrote biographies for the IMDB, a database devoted to films. “Doctor Bob” looked forward to Tuesday nights playing trivia with his team at the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Meriden. He would always arrive impeccably dressed in a shirt, necktie and jacket.
Severe injuries sustained in a car accident Aug. 22, 2018, led to a long stay in critical care units at St. Mary’s and then Hartford Hospital. He never improved enough to leave the critical care unit, but his family wanted to honor his wishes to die at home. With the help of a home hospice team, they arranged for him to go by ambulance to his home in Cheshire, where he died the next day, Sept. 20.
Dr. Chesanow is survived by his wife Jeanné; his brother Dan and wife Sheila in Tennessee; his sons Andrei, and Matthew and wife Dawn and their children Carson, Caleb, Aiden and Maddelyn.
A private graveside service for Dr. Chesanow will be held at Elmwood Cemetery, 90 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230. The Alderson-Ford Funeral Home of Cheshire, 615 South Main St., Cheshire, CT 06410 is assisting the family with the arrangements. Donations in his name can be made to Cheshirepedia, where Ches was treasurer. To view the arrangements online, or share a condolence or an online photo, visit https://fordfh.com.
