Irving Mizus, MD, born 3/14/1951 in Chicago, IL, died 3/3/23 in Bethesda, MD. His mother, Fay, and father, Meyer, were originally from Poland and Russia, respectively, but were displaced to the United States, following WWII. Fay was a survivor of Auschwitz and Meyer fled to Siberia during the war. Fay and Meyer were married in Germany, where their oldest child, Marlene, was born, prior to their move to Chicago, IL, where Irving was born. Meyer had been a tailor prior to WWII and worked as a pattern maker who rose to the level of Vice President at Vera in Manhattan, following their subsequent move to New York City. Irving's younger brother, Sheldon, was born a few years later. Irving attended Yeshiva in Brooklyn until he was 5 years old. He then attended public school until high school, when he attended Brooklyn Technical Institute. Irving played catcher on his little league team, which won the state championship one year, and were invited to sit in the Yankee dugout, where he had his glove signed by his idol, Mickey Mantle.  During the summers in high school, he worked as a shipping foreman and forklift driver, a mailman in Manhattan, and a taxi driver in NYC. He taught himself to play guitar and his band performed at Bar Mitzvahs.

He decided at the age of 6 that he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. He majored in Mathematics at SUNY Albany and went on to earn his medical degree from Albany Medical College where he found his passion for critical care medicine. While at Albany, he was an extra in the movie, "The way we were." He met his future wife, Dr. Deborah Litman, the first day of orientation for internship at Temple University Hospital. Six months into his intern year, his father died. Six months later, he and Deborah were engaged. Irving and Deborah were married in Columbia, SC, on December 16, 1979. Following residency, Irving went on to complete a fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he researched acute lung injury. During this time, his first daughter, Marisa, was born. Following fellowship, he joined the pulmonary faculty at UCLA while Deborah completed her fellowship in Rheumatology, and their second daughter, Lauren, was born. They moved to Columbia, SC, then to Washington, DC, and then, finally, to Chevy Chase, MD, where they raised their family. Irving ran a very busy private practice, specializing in Pulmonology, critical care, and internal medicine in DC and Maryland for over 30 years, caring for thousands of patients. He was known as the "doctor's doctor" and was passionate about his calling as a physician. He made house calls, carrying a black doctor bag, and went above and beyond for every patient in his care.

Irving was an inventor. His first patent was for the METTRO (Mizus Endotracheal Tube Replacement Obturator), which eventually became known as the "bougie" by anesthesiologists, and was used to assist physicians with changing endotracheal tubes in intubated patients. He then patented a method for percutaneous placement of a catheter. He later patented a fastening system. Finally, he patented a spiral slit endotracheal tube to permit intubation over a bronchoscope. He loved to listen to music, travel with his family, play guitar, ski, sail, read about physics, watch movies, and play tennis.

He became a grandfather named Pop pop with the birth of his first grandchild, Jason, and went on to have 3 more grandsons, Michael, Theo, and Benjamin. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's and retired from medical practice in 2018. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Deborah Litman, his daughters, Dr. Marisa Mizus and Mrs. Lauren Mizus-Anderson, and his grandsons, Jason, Mikey, and Ben Marek, and Theo Anderson. He is survived by the many patients he rescued from critical illness and cared for in his office. He is survived by a legacy of love, strength, integrity, compassion, wisdom, humor, and optimism.

Funeral service will be held on Monday, March 6, 2023, 10 a.m. at Washington Hebrew Congregation, 3935 Macomb St NW, Washington, DC 20016 with interment to follow at King David Memorial Gardens, Falls Church, VA. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Michael J. Fox Foundation ( michaeljfox.org ).

The Michael J. Fox Foundation
Grand Central Station, P.O. Box 4777, New York NY 10163-4777
Tel: 1-800-708-7644
Web: https://www.michaeljfox.org/donate