Ohanes B. Oskanian, MD (“John”), 90, of Lansdale passed peacefully May 3, 2022 surrounded by his family. Dr. Oskanian was a prominent member of the Lansdale community for over 60 years where he worked as a urologist and was on staff at Abington Jefferson Lansdale Hospital (formerly North Penn Hospital), Grand View Hospital in Sellersville, and St. Luke’s Hospital in Quakertown. He loved being a physician and practicing medicine, often making house calls long after house calls were a thing of the past. Perhaps the highlight of his long career was when he was elected as Chief of Staff at Abington Jefferson Lansdale Hospital. When he retired from medicine in 2001, hand-written letters of thanks and gratitude flooded his mailbox from patients he treated over the years he was in practice. Medicine was his passion, and he continued to practice in a volunteer capacity, well into his 80s, at the St. Catherine Laboure Medical Clinic in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.
Dr. Oskanian was born in 1931 in Aleppo Syria, the fifth of seven children. He earned his medical degree in 1957 from Sorbonne University in Montpellier, France. He had his sights set on continuing his medical training in the United States and arrived in New York City on the USS United States on December 31, 1957. He completed a residency in General Surgery at Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, followed by a Urology residency at Albert Einstein School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. There, at Einstein, he met his wife of 58 years, Irene. They ultimately settled in Lansdale where they raised their three children, Peter, Frederick, and Azlen.
Some described Dr. Oskanian as a “walking encyclopedia.” He spoke 5 languages fluently and famously reviewed English word etymologies with his children and their friends as they studied for the SAT during high school. He often discussed topics of science, math, music, art, and politics, and enjoyed teaching others while in conversation. It was a common occurrence to be in conversation with him regarding, for example, an upcoming vacation, and he’d interrupt, “Do you know how airplanes work?” He would then launch into a lesson about physics, lift, weight, thrust and drag. From there, one never knew what might come next…. aerodynamics, mathematics, or any number of diverse subjects. All of these tours through Dr. Oskanian’s prodigious brain most often occurred with his children, who were a captive audience, but he was always happy to impart his knowledge and musings to anyone with a receptive pair of ears.
Dr. Oskanian was a life-long learner and took many courses at Montgomery County Community College following his retirement. He was the oldest student in the class but often made friends with students many decades his junior, sometimes scolding them for using cell phones during class as he found it disrespectful to the professor. He brought a learned perspective to these classes, often adding information from his own experiences as he lived through some topics covered in his classes, such as the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr, the Vietnam War, or the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon.
Dr. Oskanian derived the most joy in his life from his 8 grandchildren whom he taught to fish, and also made slingshots with them, fixed cars, played tennis, went skiing, taught multiplication tables, and helped them learn how to ride a bike. He was very involved in their lives, and never missed a show performance, sporting event, or robotics tournament. Even in his later years, he did his best to keep up with their latest activities and accomplishments.
Dr. Oskanian held three things sacred: family, education, and hard work. He immigrated to a new country by himself at age 26, not knowing English as his native language, with only a small amount of money, and with only a start date for his medical residency. He and his wife, Irene, together built a family, a successful medical practice serving several local communities and countless patients, and he left a legacy for his children, grandchildren, and extended family to continue and carry forward.
Dr. Oskanian is survived by his wife, Irene, children Peter (Rose) of Collegeville, Frederick (Michele) of Blue Bell and Azlen (Scott) of Jenkintown, and grandchildren: Bennett, Alex, John, Madeleine, Peter, Claire, Grayson, and Wilson. He is also survived by his brother, Vahe, of Antwerp Belgium and many cherished nieces and nephews.
Visitation to be held Friday, May 20, 6:00 – 8:00pm at Simcox-McIlvaine Funeral Home, 532 East Main Street, Lansdale, PA. Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 21, 10:30am, Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, 101 Ashmead Road, Cheltenham, PA 19012. Burial to immediately follow at St. John Neumann Cemetery, 3797 County Line Road, Chalfont, PA. All are invited to a remembrance luncheon at Talamore Country Club, 723 Talamore Drive Ambler, PA. In lieu of flowers, donations in Dr. Ohanes Oskanian’s memory may be made to Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church.
Hotel accommodations include Normandy Farms Conference Center 215-616-8500 or Holiday Inn Express/Suites in Fort Washington 215-591-9000.