THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Obituaries
H. Harvey Koenig, 62, doctor By S. Joseph Hagenmayer INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF
H. Harvey Koenig, 62 a Mount Holly osteopathic
physician and longtime Rancocas Hospital staff member, died of
primary systemic amyloidosis Tuesday at Virtua-Memorial Hospital
Burlington County, Mount Holly.
He had lived in Moorestown since 1975. He previously resided in Willingboro and Philadelphia and was born and raised in Worcester, Mass.
Dr. Koenig had maintained a private general practice in Mount Holly since 1975. He practiced medicine for 33 years, including eight years in Willingboro.
Since 1967, he was a staff physician at Rancocas Hospital, now part of the Our Lady of Lourdes Health Systems, in Willingboro, and was chairman of the department of family practice when the hospital was owned by Allegheny University Hospitals in 1997. He also served in numerous other capacities, including as the quality assurance physician adviser and a member of the Rancocas Hospital Resource Utilization Management Committee, the Medical Records Committee, the Credentials Committee, the Medical Staff Performance Improvement Committee and the Institutional Review Board.
Dr. Koenig had wanted to become a doctor since his youth, said his son, Andrew Stuart Koenig, who is a fellow in rheumatology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Koenig's career choice was influenced by an uncle who was a traditional family doctor in Massachusetts, Dr. Koenig's son said.
"My father made house calls until he stopped practicing a year ago," his son recalled. "For him, the patient always came first. The time of day made no difference. It was all about the welfare of the patient. He was the reason I went into medicine."
In 1984, Dr. Koenig received the Four Chaplains Legion of Honor Award.
He was affiliated with Burlington Woods in Burlington Township, the Mount Holly Center, the Lutheran Home in Moorestown, and the Marcella Nursing Home in Burlington Township.
Dr. Koenig had been a delegate since 1991 to the New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons House of Delegates and had been a member of the association since 1967. He was a member of the American Osteopathic Association and the Burlington County Society of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, where he had served as vice president since 1991.
He was a preceptor for osteopathic medical students with the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1976-77, and with the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Services in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1988.
He graduated from Boston University in 1960 and from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1965. He did his internship at the Metropolitan Hospital in Philadelphia in 1965-66.
He was a member of Temple Sinai in Cinnaminson for about 25 years.
He enjoyed skiing, art, travel and his family.
In addition to his son, he is survived by his wife of 32 years, Brenda Green Koenig; sons Daniel Joseph and Jeffrey Lawrence; his mother, Rose Boorky Koenig; and two brothers.
Services will be held at 1 p.m. today at Platt Memorial Chapels Inc., 2001 Berlin Rd., Cherry Hill. Burial will be in Crescent Burial Park, Pennsauken.
Memorial donations may be made to the Gift of Life Transplant House, 705 Second St. SW, Rochester, Minn. 55902.
S. Joseph Hagenmayer's e-mail address is jhagenmayer@phillynews.com
The medical world has lost a hero
There is a popular song written by Don McLean which describes the day he reads some devastating news as "the day the music died." Although he wasn't a musician, I think I can speak for all of his patients when I say that's how we felt when we learned that Dr. Harvey Koenig had departed this earth. Anyone who was acquainted with him knows what a loss this is to our little community. Dr. Koenig had a rare gift. This was evidenced by the number of people who were willing to wait any amount of time necessary for their turn to see him. Once you were transferred to one of his little rooms in the back and he opened that door, he was yours, for however long it took to help you. He was like a kind, wise dad. You could tell him anything, and he would always put your mind at ease, make sure you saw a specialist if that was needed or bustle back in to your room with medication for you if you didn't have a prescription plan. But it was more than that. He was a medical advisor, a confidante and a friend to his patients. Three generations of my family also went to see Dr. Koenig with personal problems, emotional upsets and the trials and tribulations of daily living. He had a way about him that communicated that your problem was not so different than everyone else's problems, and he always knew what to say or do to make you feel better. If it took three hours to put your mind at ease, that's how long he stayed in that room with you. In all the years that I knew him, no request for advice was ever turned down, even if it meant coming to see him after he had already finished his long day. I'm sure that his patients everywhere join me in this small tribute to Dr. Koenig, a wonderful doctor in the truest sense of the word. He will be sadly missed.
Dolores M. Gardner
Mount Laurel
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