Geraldine Prose Young

YOUNG
DR. GERALDINE PROSE

Of Rydal, PA, known to family and friends as "Gerry," passed away peacefully on June 14th, 2020 after a long struggle with dementia. She was predeceased by her husband of 68 years, Irving Young, and is survived by her three children, Carl Young, Diane Young Uniman and husband Howard Uniman, and Nancy Young and husband Jeffrey Melin; four grand-children, Harry Uniman and wife Amanda Dillman Uniman, Max Uniman and wife Elizabeth Luckenbill Uniman, Claire Melin Cohen and husband Zack Cohen, and Julia Melin and husband Israel Kositsky; plus three great grandchildren, Joseph Samuel Uniman , Briar Rose Uniman, and Benjamin Henry Cohen.
Gerry was born in the Bronx, NY on September 30, 1926. As an inveterate lover of opera and classical music, she was a member of the fourth graduating class of the High School of Music and Art in the City of New York (now known as the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts), and considered becoming a professional flutist before deciding on a career in medicine.
After graduating from Brooklyn College in three years, and undaunted by the obstacles facing women in medicine at that time, Gerry received her MD degree from The SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in 1951. As one of a handful of females in her medical school class, Gerry was a pioneer for future generations of women entering the medical profession. Notably, such women included a daughter and granddaughter, both of whom readily acknowledge the trail she blazed in balancing a successful medical career with raising a loving family.
Gerry worked for thirty-five years as a cytopathologist at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in North Philadelphia. She also managed a successful private practice diagnosing PAP smears from the family home in Elkins Park. Whereas other homes were filled with more traditional aromas, the smell of Xylene and other fixatives emanating from the third-floor staining laboratory was ever present in the Young household.
Gerry made seminal contri-butions to clinical research. For example, she was an early proponent of fine needle aspiration biopsy, which is now a standard diagnostic tool. She also had a strong sense of social responsibility, helping to start a PAP screening clinic in Zimbabwe after retiring in 1989.
As impressive as these accomplishments were, they were arguably rivaled by her poise, grace, beauty and wit. A great mimic, her sense of humor and infectious laugh were legendary. She and Irv were fixtures among their tight-knit group of friends who oscillated between Elkins Park, Isles of Capri, and Loveladies depending on the season.
Finally, Gerry was a truly wonderful wife and mother. She was literally adored by her entire family, and it's no exaggeration to say her iconic status only grew over time. Although her disease ultimately robbed her and her family of her gifts, her memory lives on to both inspire and comfort all who knew her.
Contributions in Gerry's memory should be made to The Dr. Geraldine Prose Young Fund at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts or The Alzheimer's Foundation of America.

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