Eric was a practicing nephrologist and professor of medicine at Arizona State University in Tucson, where he served since 1978. You can get more details from his reunion essays (linked on his profile page), where you can learn about the loss of his first wife (and Yale prom date) in 1992, the twists and turns of early career and post-Yale study, and great humor and insight expressed in the 50th reunion essay.
Dr. Eric H. Prosnitz of Tucson, AZ died on September 24, 2019. He is survived by his daughters, Debra (Peter) and Beth; significant other and love Kathi Willis and brother, Ted (Karen). He is also survived by several nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents: mother, Mary; father, Milton and stepmother, Elaine and wife, Elaine Lois Prosnitz. Eric will be missed by many. His kind heart, humor, and curiosity will be remembered. In lieu of flowers, gifts in Eric’s memory may be made to the El Rio Foundation online at elrio.org or sent by mail to 839 W. Congress, Tucson, AZ 85745.
Many of his friends from high school and Tucson left remembrances and some nice pictures at Evergreen’s Life Tribute page.
Ralph Swanson reports:
Eric, 2019 (click to expand)
It is with a great deal of sadness that I inform you of the passing today of our good friend and classmate, Eric Prosnitz. I just learned this from his long-time girlfriend, Kathi Willis. As you know, Eric was being treated for cancer, but he was very upbeat about the prognosis (I spoke with him last in August). Apparently, he developed a fast-moving blood infection and there was nothing they could do.
Both of Eric’s daughters were at his side in Tucson. Feel free to pass the word on to others of our classmates whose email addresses I don’t have. The picture I’ve attached was taken in March of this year in Tucson.
We were roommates at Yale our senior year and managed to see each other fairly frequently over the years, once he moved to Tucson in 1982, since that is only a short plane ride from my home in the SF Bay Area. I got to know his daughters Debra and Beth well from a rafting trip Eric and I, along with my younger daughter, Christina, took on the Colorado River and into Lake Powell in 2000.
Eric and Kathi
Most important, however, is that Eric was the first person outside the immediate family I called when my older daughter, Larissa, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1988, and he was the first person other than immediate family whom I called when Larissa received her lung transplant in 2018.
He was my support away from home, and I know he was in tears when I told him the good news about Larissa’s lung transplant. That is true friendship. He also attended both of my daughters’ weddings, the most recent of which was in 2017. I attended Debra’s wedding in 2015. So we go way back. I’ll miss him dearly, as will his family and all who knew him.
