Robert D. Strauss, M.D., 88, formerly of Salisbury Township, died Jan. 13, 2026.

He graduated from Upper Moreland High School, Class of 1955, earned a biology degree from Franklin & Marshall College in 1959 and a medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine in 1963. While at Temple, he received the O. Spurgeon English Psychiatry Award.

He was the husband of the late Helen Elaine (Ramsey) Strauss for 54 years.

As a captain in the United States Air Force, he was appointed director of the medical clinic at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. Residency training in otolaryngology and head and neck surgery was completed at Abington Memorial Hospital while maintaining a private practice. Board certification came in 1973, followed by induction as a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

He made people feel at ease – capable and valued. He is remembered less for what he said than for how he made people feel.

Over the years, his roles included chief of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery at Lehigh Valley Health Network and chairman of the Department of Surgery at Sacred Heart Hospital, where he helped develop the hospital’s open‑heart cardiac surgery program.

Outside of medicine, gardening was his second calling. After retirement, he was certified as a Master Gardener, a title he cherished for the rest of his life.

In later years, he depended on devoted caregivers including Caroline Owiti and Anne Onyambu.

He is survived by his sons, Dr. Robert A. and his wife, Mary Jannelli, of Chapel Hill, N.C., Attorney Eric R. and his wife, Claudia Bayona, of Barto, Dr. Kevin A. and his wife, Zineb Ammous, of Chicago, Ill.; daughter, Megan E. Hallman and her husband, David A., of Coopersburg; sister, Ruth L. Moyer, of Lansdale; 13 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren.

In addition to his wife, he was predeceased by granddaughter, Gabriella; brother, Frank W.

Arrangements were made by Heintzelman- Stephens Funeral Home, P.C.

Contributions may be made to Lehigh Valley Hospice, 2124 Lehigh St., Suite 100, Allentown, 18103.