Joan Weintrob died on June 27 after a 14-year combat with lung cancer. She was 82. She was the founder and former president of the Orthotic Prosthetic Center (OPC). Joan was born in New York City in 1939, the daughter of Sara and Henry Jerum. She received her bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in occupational therapy and eventually joined the Fairfax Hospital (later to become Inova Fairfax) where she became manager of the occupational therapy department. She became especially interested in treating people whose hands had been injured. This interest led to further studies in orthotics, which resulted in Joan persuading the hospital to establish an orthotics department of which she was the manager. She then pursued education in prosthetics and added that capability to the department while becoming only the second woman to receive the Certified Prosthetist Orthotist (CPO) credential and helping to open the profession to women.
In 1980, Joan founded the Orthotic Prosthetic Center, becoming the first woman to establish a private orthotic-prosthetic practice. As an orthotist, she pioneered the use of lightweight plastic braces in place of the metal and leather devices commonly used in the metropolitan area.
Joan is survived by her loved and devoted husband of 61 years, Harry Weintrob; their two sons, David Weintrob of New York and Elliot Weintrob of Bethesda; their spouses, Corinne Hermann-Weintrob and Chris Weintrob; and her beloved grandchildren, Sabrina, Grant, Garret and Alexis Weintrob. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.
