Venerable pediatrician A.J. Kravtin dies at 94

Dr. A.J. Kravtin, a pediatrician in Columbus for more than 47 years, died Tuesday. He was 94.

Kravtin was born Abraham Joseph Kravtin in 1922 to Philip and Rachel Kravtin, Lithuanian immigrants who came to Columbus and opened a store on Broadway.

Kravtin once said that he wasn’t cut out for retail and decided to pursue medicine instead.

After medical school, he went into practice in 1952 with Dr. Mercer Blanchard, who had been his pediatrician.

Kravtin once told the Ledger-Enquirer he was drawn to pediatrics because of his affection for children. The diminutive doctor also joked it might have something to do with his height.

“I enjoyed guiding families and rearing their children,” Kravtin said. “I wasn’t a businessman. I enjoyed taking care of people. In those days I made a lot of house calls because that’s what people did.”

Kravtin was married to his wife, Florence, for 59 years before her death in 2007. He said he met her while he was an intern at King County Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she worked as a dietician.

“Both our parents were first-generation Jewish people from Europe who were culturally the same,” Kravtin said. “If you are culturally the same, it’s my opinion it makes for stronger marriages.”

In 2012, Kravtin was honored as one of three recipients of the Jack T. Brinkley Sr. Service Award for 2012. The Muscogee County Democratic Party presents this award annually to outstanding citizens of the Columbus area whose lives are exemplary examples of sterling service to Columbus and its citizens.

A funeral service is planned for 2 p.m. Friday at Striffler-Hamby Funeral Home on Macon Road, followed by interment at Riverdale Cemetery.

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 7:27 AM with the headline "Venerable pediatrician A.J. Kravtin dies at 94."