Dr. Lloyd N. Spindell, 88

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Lloyd Spindell, of South Orange and Boca Raton, Fla., died May 16, 2013. Born in Providence, son of the late Simon and Jeanette Spindell, he graduated with honors from Brown University

His college education was interrupted when he was drafted into the Army at age 18 during World War II. A combat medic, he was promoted to corporal and fought through France, Belgium, Luxemburg and into Germany, where he crawled across enemy terrain to administer first aid to a wounded soldier.

He once used his knowledge of German to persuade Nazi soldiers to surrender. Awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action as well as the Purple Heart, he wrote a poem about his wartime experiences, which was published in “Stars and Stripes” in 1945.

In the 1950s, he developed a device for global positioning, which could freeing a pilot from needing to use radio frequency beacons from the ground, a precursor in concept to today’s GPS.

A 1952 Tufts University School of Medicine graduate, he trained at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn and Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. A Fellow of the American College of Radiology, he also served as director of radiology at the Newark Beth Israel Hospital.

A member of the Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, N.J., he is survived by his wife of 60 years Marilyn, son Andrew, daughters Caryn Granofsky (Richard) and Stephanie Bleiweise (Dr. Ira), grandsons Jordan and Jason and a brother, Dr. Edward Spindell (Judith), of Providence.