The Holyoke Public Schools community was saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Robert M. Abrams on July 22, 2024 at the age of 91. He served periodically on the HPS School Committee beginning in the 1950s and also as the school physician for Holyoke Public Schools after he retired from his pediatric medicine practice in 2010.
Dr. Abrams was born in Holyoke, where he attended Elmwood School, Metcalf School, and Holyoke High School. He was captain of the football team and class treasurer before graduating in 1950. He went on to Amherst College, where he majored in chemistry and played center and middle-linebacker on the college’s football team. Following Amherst, Abrams began medical school in 1954 at Boston University. After a pediatric residency at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., he served for three years in the Air Force as a base doctor in Athens, Greece.
In 1964, Abrams returned to Holyoke and served the community as a pediatrician with Holyoke Pediatric Associates until retiring in 2010. Committed to education, he served as the physician for Holyoke Public Schools. In addition, he served on the Holyoke School Board and the UMass Board of Trustees.
Of his time spent in board positions and volunteering, Dr. Abrams once said: “I got satisfaction that you could have some influence on the future of people growing up. I think all of us want to see a better world and hopefully we can do something in our short time in life.”
A private burial ceremony has been planned, while a public memorial service is expected to take place in the coming months.