Transcendients: Memorial to Healthcare Workers
Died 6 June 2020
NORMAN EINHORN
RACE/ETHNICITY White
OCCUPATION Optometrist
LOCATION Tinton Falls, NJ
AGE 69
CONCERNS ABOUT ADEQUATE PPE? Unknown/Other
‘Brilliant’ eye specialist ‘liked to party’
He could talk with anybody, about anything. He could sing. He loved wine, Italian dinners and concerts: Springsteen, Madonna, Diana Ross. Always with his wife, Joy Einhorn.
“He was brilliant,” she said, “and he also liked to party.”
Norman had an optometry practice since 1983 but also worked in neuro-optometry, helping people whose illnesses or injuries impair their vision. He treated stroke patients, Special Olympic athletes and trauma victims. “It’s like physical therapy,” Joy said, “but for the eyes.”
He shuttered his office in March, following state orders, but continued to see patients at three rehabilitation centers. His family believes he contracted the coronavirus at one of the centers.
Norman lost his appetite and started coughing in May. Other family members got sick, too. Norman died in the hospital about two weeks after his diagnosis.
Norman thought he had been protecting himself, Joy said, “but it’s just so contagious”.
– Maureen O’Hagan