Dr. Yona Diane Victor, a physician, longtime member of Temple Sinai and an assistant community chaplain, passed away April 17, 2021, in Denver. She was 75. Rabbi Eliot Baskin officiated at the April 23 service held at Fairmount Cemetery; Rabbi Rick Rheins also spoke. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
“Throughout her life and career, Yona’s empathy and wisdom guided her desire to care for others,” her loved ones said.
Dr. Victor was born in Maryland to Selma and Samuel Victor, and completed her undergraduate degree (Phi Beta Kappa), graduate degree and medical degree (Alpha Omega Alpha) at Case Western Reserve University.
She gained admittance to medical school at a time when only 5% of women were accepted nationwide.
Dr. Victor moved to Denver for her internship and residency in internal medicine and fell in love with skiing double-black diamond trails.
She married Leonid Smirnoff in 1978.
The couple loved playing tennis, camping in the Rocky Mountains and hunting for mushrooms in the fall for Leonid’s famous mushroom soup.
Dr. Victor was a general internist in solo practice in Aurora. She later taught science classes and medical ethics at Platt College and worked as a community chaplain, assisting Rabbi Baskin.
Leonid Smirnoff predeceased his wife.
Dr. Victor fought to bring her stepdaughter Anastasia over from Russia to live with her and her daughter Ellen, with whom she rescued many animals in the Denver area.
A Temple Sinai member for over 30 years, Dr. Victor was a faithful attendee at Friday night services, an articulate presence in Sinai’s Torah study classes and sang in the High Holiday choir.
She devoted herself to Jewish study.
Yona Victor is survived by her daughter Ellen Esther Smirnoff and stepdaughter Anastasia L. Zaikina (Carlos Estrada); grandson Edgar Alejandro Estrada; and nieces Dr. Sarah Kay (Joshua Lewis), Rachel Kay (James Brennan), and nephew Jonathan Kay (Mary Spadoni).
Contributions may be made to Doctors Without Borders; the Parkinson’s Foundation; or the Arthritis Foundation.
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