Dr. Milton Graub, 90, pediatrician

Dr. Milton Graub, 90, of Bala Cynwyd, who with his wife, Evelyn, joined other parents of ill children in 1955 to launch the national Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, died of pulmonary fibrosis Monday, July 12, at Lankenau Hospital.

The foundation website states that when it was founded, "children with the illness were not expected to live long enough to attend elementary school.

"Thanks, in large part, to the foundation's aggressive investments in innovative research and comprehensive care, the median survival age for people with this disease is now nearly 37 years."

In 1950, Dr. Graub was a pediatrician in West Philadelphia when he and his wife discovered the worst about their 2-year-old son, Lee.

A history of the foundation states: "Lee was not ill exactly, but he showed signs of mysterious ailments. The cough he had had since birth never went away . . .

"Even to his pediatrician father, Milton, Lee's symptoms were puzzling."

A daughter, Pearl Goldstein, said her parents "took him to Columbia University . . . the only place where research was being done on cystic fibrosis." He was found to have the illness.

When a daughter, Kathy, was born a year later, cystic fibrosis was found in her as well.

In the foundation history, Dr. Graub recalled: "We were completely devastated that our children had a disease that not only was incurable, but that very few people had ever even heard of . . ."

The foundation website states that the disease "is characterized by a buildup of thick, sticky secretions in the lungs and digestive tract that interferes with breathing and digestion.

"The mucus in the lungs becomes a fertile breeding ground for infections, which over time destroy the delicate lung tissue. Patients usually die of respiratory failure."

Lee died when he was 10, Pearl said, and Kathy died when she was 18.

In 1995, family members established the Kathy and Lee Graub CF Center at the Schneider Children's Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Robert J. Beall, president and chief executive officer of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, issued this statement: "As one of the founders of the CF Foundation, [Dr. Graub] and his wife, Evelyn, helped lay the groundwork for the success that we have realized as an organization for more than five decades."

A member of its first board of trustees, Dr. Graub was president of the foundation from 1964 to 1970. His daughter said he was international vice president from 1970 to 1976.

Born in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia, Dr. Graub graduated from Central High School in 1935, earned a bachelor's degree in biology at Temple University in 1939, and earned his medical degree at Hahnemann Medical College in 1945.

During Dr. Graub's military service at Fort Belvoir, Va., Pearl said, "he took care of . . . all the officers' children."

In 1952, he joined the Hahnemann medical staff and faculty, serving as clinical assistant professor of pediatrics until 1969 and associate professor until becoming acting head of pediatrics in 1973.

In the 1960s, his daughter said, he moved his practice from 46th and Farragut Streets in West Philadelphia to Bala Cynwyd.

He was chairman of the pediatric department at Hahnemann Hospital and its affiliate, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, his daughter said. He retired in 2001.

In 1972, he organized the first International Conference on Genetics at the Weizman Institute in Israel.

For the American Academy of Pediatrics, he was a member of the Pennsylvania Advisory Committee for Handicapped Children.

He was a member of the President's National Committee for Employment of the Handicapped.

Dr. Graub was a member of the board of trustees of Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley.

Besides his wife of 62 years and his daughter Pearl, Dr. Graub is survived by three grandchildren.

Services took place Wednesday, July 14.