Dr. Victor Parsonnet, a cardiac surgeon who performed New Jersey’s first successful heart and kidney transplant and was chairman of the New Jersey Symphony, has died.
Parsonnet was 100 when he died peacefully Dec. 23, his family told the symphony.
The former chief of surgery at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, who worked in medicine for more than 60 years, also performed the state’s first permanent pacemaker implant in 1961 and first aortocoronary bypass surgery.
Parsonnet joined the board of the New Jersey Symphony in 1986 and became chairman in 1991. He served in that role until 2007.
“We have a love affair, me and musicians,” he told The Star-Ledger in 2008, when he became board chair emeritus.
Dr. Victor Parsonnet at NJPAC in 2008. He served on the board of the performing arts center in Newark as well as the symphony. Tony Kurdzuk | The Star-Ledger
The reniassance man grew up in Newark, where his grandfathers, Max Danzis and Victor Parsonnet, founded Newark Beth Israel Hospital in 1901.
The alum of Maple Avenue School and Weequahic High School studied at Cornell University, served in the Navy and earned his medical degree at New York University. In 1955, he joined his father’s medical practice in Newark.
He inherited a love of the symphony from his parents, Eugene and Rose Danzis Parsonnet. His father, Eugene Parsonnet, who played the violin, was a member of the symphony board of trustees, and Rose, his mother, was a pianist.
Victor was an amateur pianist, and in 2008 played a rehearsal with the symphony, performing a solo in movements from Mozart’s piano concertos 21 and 23.
Parsonnet worked in medicine for more than 60 years. The expert surgeon and amateur pianist followed his family into both medicine and music.Mia Song | The Star-Ledger
“Our father will be greatly missed, but whenever we see the New Jersey Symphony musicians perform or listen to classical music, he will be with us,” Parsonnet’s son, Dr. Jeffrey Parsonnet, said in a statement.
The Parsonnet Room at NJPAC, where he was also a board member, is named in honor of the family.
“Victor was so special to the Symphony, and it was his ability to unite and bond that made him an effective board chair,” violinist and concertmaster Eric Wyrick said in a statement. “He instilled a culture of togetherness in this organization that continues to this day. Victor will be greatly missed by the musicians of the New Jersey Symphony.”
Parsonnet was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2019.
His first wife, Mia (Eimer) Parsonnet, who joined him at the symphony during his time as chair, died of cancer in 2002. His second wife, Jane (Wagner) Cort Parsonnet, died in 2020.
The Parsonnet family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the New Jersey Symphony: njsymphony.org/parsonnet.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.
