Dr. Benjamin Weiss of Santa Monica Dies
Dr. Benjamin Weiss, a longtime Santa Monica physician who was known for making house calls until his retirement two years ago, died April 27 after undergoing heart surgery at a Cleveland hospital. He was 75.
Weiss emphasized the treatment of the entire person within the family structure, said Ada Kadinger, a longtime friend of the doctor and his wife, Betty.
“He had patients that had nowhere to go, so he would take them to his home,” Kadinger said. “He was just a wonderful man.”
His wife of 46 years said: “Everybody thought he was their best friend. He was a doctor’s doctor.”
During World War II, Weiss was a physician in the Veterans Administration’s Wadsworth Hospital in West Los Angeles. After the war, he started a private practice that later became the Santa Monica Plaza Medical Group.
Weiss was born Feb. 12, 1913, in Pittsburgh, Pa. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and obtained his medical degree from St. Louis Medical University.
Weiss was voted Man of the Year in 1982 by Beth Sholom Temple of Santa Monica and served as president of the temple from 1956 through 1957. In 1984, the National Council of Christians and Jews honored him with its Humanitarian Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Human Relations.
He is survived by his wife; two daughters, Jo Kaplan and Julie Weiss; two sisters; three brothers, and an aunt.
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