Henry Robert Feldman

June 28, 1932 – January 31, 2025

Henry Robert Feldman died in Seattle on January 31, 2025, at age 92. He grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and attended Harvard College. He then got a Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University. He was drafted into the army  toward the end of the Korean War, after which he moved back to New York and met his wife, Dorothy Cohn Feldman. They were married for 62 years, until Dorothy died in 2018. They moved to Seattle in 1963 when Henry got a postdoctoral position at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington,where he then spent his career, which included some groundbreaking research on the biosonar capabilities of porpoises and whales. 

Henry was an avid tennis and bridge player, read voraciously, loved languages, wrote satirical lyrics, and performed in plays at University House, where he and Dorothy moved in 2015. His many friends remember him as brilliant, fun-loving, irascible and generous, with a great sense of humor. He and Dorothy extended gracious hospitality to relatives and friends who passed through Seattle. He loved the music of Tom Lehrer and Gilbert and Sullivan, and was passionate about social justice. 

Henry is survived by his only child, Rabbi Fern Feldman of Seattle, grandchildren Mia Barad and Elisha Arafel, and a close circle of long-time friends and chosen family. Donations may be made in his memory to Planned Parenthood or the American Civil Liberties Union.