Edward A. Teitelman, 72, psychiatrist and historian

Edward A. Teitelman, 72, of Collingswood, a South Jersey psychiatrist whose passion for architecture and history made him a central figure in the fight to maintain historic buildings in Camden, died of a stroke Wednesday April 14 at a Brandywine assisted living facility in Moorestown.

Dr. Teitelman might as well have been a professor of architectural history.

Since his college days, the psychiatrist collected thousands of images of buildings throughout Philadelphia and Camden. In 1974, he published a guidebook to Philadelphia architecture.

A proud Quaker, Dr. Teitelman fought for the preservation of several Quaker buildings, from meetinghouses to one of the first asylums in the area. He eventually became an advocate of all historic buildings in Camden.

"You don't rebuild the city by destroying it," he told the U.S. General Services Administration in 1989 at a public hearing about the demolition of five historical buildings on Cooper Street to make room for a six-story annex to the federal courthouse, according to an Inquirer article.

Dr. Teitelman became such a lover of Camden that after a few years of working in Philadelphia's Public Health Service, he decided in the late 1960s to open a private practice in the struggling city.

Around the same time, he and his family moved into a home in downtown Camden designed by Wilson Eyre, one of his favorite architects.

"He was an active figure in Camden," said Dr. Joel Glass, who worked with Dr. Teitelman for more than 20 years. "He always hoped it would have a resurgence."

Because of his work in public health at the start of his career, Dr. Teitelman was community-oriented in his practice and liked being in an urban environment, Glass said.

Almost all his patients liked him because of "his being so real and empathic," Glass said.

In 2002, Dr. Teitelman and his wife moved to Collingswood, and he moved his practice to Pennsauken.

Throughout his life, Dr. Teitelman continued to photograph historic buildings and structures with interesting architectural styles, said his son Stephen.

Dr. Teitelman also collected pieces of history - buttresses or other specific building features - which he added to a rock garden in his backyard.

"He would go to sites of historical or architecturally interesting buildings that were being knocked down and take a piece of the building," his son said.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Dr. Teitelman graduated from Central High School in 1955. He went on to study premed at Dickinson College and then medicine at Thomas Jefferson Medical College, graduating in 1962.

Dr. Teitelman, who had been raised Jewish, and Mildred Osinski, who was raised Catholic, met in the early 1960s. The couple decided their values matched those of the Quakers, so they became Quakers and married in 1962 at the Newton Friends Meeting in Camden.

For the rest of their lives, they continued to be part of a small group of Newton meeting members and supporters of the meeting's preservation.

In a 1992 Inquirer article, Dr. Teitelman was described as the "one stubborn man" who refused to let the Newton meeting close. It is still open today.

In addition to his son Stephen, Dr. Teitelman is survived by another son, Bram. His wife died Dec. 31.

Family and friends are invited to a memorial service at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 22, at Kain-Murphy Funeral Services, 15 West End Ave., Haddonfield. Interment will be private.