Warren Dennis Kronenberg
December 12, 1940 – October 27, 2026
Warren Dennis Kronenberg, beautiful and beloved husband and father, age 85, of Olympia, WA, ascended on October 27, 2026, eight years after being diagnosed with ALS.
Warren was born December 12, 1940 in Brooklyn, NY to Solomon and Rivoli Kronenberg. He graduated from Brooklyn’s Midwood High School and Albright College in Reading PA before earning a medical degree from the University of Bologna in Italy in 1967.
Warren returned to New York to a medical internship and residency in psychiatry at Columbus Hospital in Manhattan. Throughout his life, he was deeply interested in the workings of the human mind and consciousness and sought out pioneers in the field, doing hospital rounds with Dr. Oliver Sacks at Bronx Psychiatric Hospital and consulting with Robert Mogar of San Francisco, a leading researcher in the therapeutic use of LSD.
In June of 1976, he met his lifelong love, Esther Organek Kronenberg. They lived together in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, enjoying the intellectual stimulation and delights of the city. Warren was an amazing conversationalist with a keen understanding of psychoanalysis and politics and could talk with anybody, often leaving them with new and sometimes radical insights and perspectives. He was arousing and captivating in every way -physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially.
With one small child and another on the way, they moved to San Francisco in 1988, where they raised their son, West, and daughter, Lea. Together, they went on road trips up and down the West Coast, visiting family and friends on the way. Warren spent hours in the playground and at home lovingly relating to his children with devotion, acceptance and understanding, a calm and loving presence. As a husband, he was all that and a thrilling, beloved constant companion for more than 50 years.
Warren spent most of his career in New York and San Francisco as a psychiatrist in community mental health, helping people in transitional housing reintegrate into society. Many of his clients were dual diagnosis, suffering both from mental illness and drug addiction. He was much beloved for his innate empathetic ability to relate honestly and compassionately with them in their struggles, helping many to regain a more positive appreciation and understanding of their lives.
After retiring in 2010, Warren moved to Olympia with Esther and his mother-in-law, reuniting the family with West and Lea who had previously moved there. His lifelong interest in health, nutrition and the environment led him and Esther to create a large organic garden that produced much of their food. Warren was the master composter and salad maker. It is truly fitting that his soil remains will enrich the garden that will nourish the bodies and souls of his loved ones.
He is survived by his wife and children, brother Paul Kronenberg of Syracuse NY and sister, Phyllis Kronenberg of Los Angeles and many friends. His memory will always be a blessing, radiating his gentleness, love, empathy, sense of humor and vibrant love of life forever into our lives. We will miss him terribly.