Bezman to celebrate 100th birthday

Dr. Harry S. Bezman, revered physician of Traer and the surrounding community, will be celebrating his 100th birthday on July 7th. A party will be held in his honor with friends and family.

Dr. Bezman was born in Montreal, Canada on July 7, 1909 to Jacob and Laura Bezman. He weighed two pounds 2 ounces at birth. He had two sisters Faye who was eight, and Ann who was six years old. The family then moved to Chicago where he grew up, met his future bride, Ida, and went to medical school at the University of Illinois in Champagne Urbana. He married Ida in 1934 prior to his internship at Garfield Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Because of the depression and the scarcity of positions, he came to Garrison, Iowa to establish his practice. In 1938, after the birth of his daughter Frona, he moved to Traer and became one of the two town doctors with Dr. Dalby. He was a member of the Lions Club, the American Legion, the Masonic Lodge and Shrine. He left in 1943, shortly after his son Paul was born, for the Army Medical Corp where he served in the China-Burma-India region. He was staged in Okinawa prior to the invasion of Japan. He returned to Traer in 1946 where he resumed his practice until the death of his wife. In 1965 he came to Los Angeles, practiced at the Veterans hospital, and then Ross Loos until his retirement in 1984. In the interim he met his second wife, Doris, and married in 1966. In retirement he took up ham radio and painting. He returned to his beloved Traer several times over a period of years, the last time in 2001. Doris passed away five years ago. Dr. Bezman still lives in his own home in Calabasas, CA. He attributes this longevity to heredity and a sense of humor. When asked what he would like for his birthday he simply says, “another year.”

Greeting and well wishes may be sent to Dr. Harry Bezman, 4044 Bon Homme Rd., Calabasas, Calif., 91302-5744.