FOUNDER OF DENTAL HYGIENE PROGRAM DIES

Gene W. Hirschfeld, 84, an oral surgeon who founded Old Dominion University's School of Dental Hygiene, died March 26 at his home in Virginia Beach.

Services will be Friday, March 29, at 4:30 p.m. at the Norfolk Chapel of H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, with burial to follow in Forest Lawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial donations be made to the Gene W. Hirschfeld School of Dental Hygiene Fund at Old Dominion University or to a charity of the donor's choice.

At the age of 49, Hirschfeld received his master's in education from Old Dominion in 1968 and became the school's first director of dental hygiene, a position he retired from in 1980, at which time the department was named in his honor.

A native of New York, Hirschfeld earned his undergraduate and dental school degrees from New York University and completed his residency in oral surgery at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn.

He was a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II and practiced dentistry in Norfolk for 27 years before joining the Old Dominion faculty. He twice was voted an Outstanding Educator in America.

Hirschfeld is survived by his wife, Mary; two daughters, Esther Leigh Cohen and JoAnn Cardon-Glass; a son, Richard; 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.