Dr. Amnon Baron, 79, of Delmar, New York, passed away on April 11, 2026, after a long battle with heart failure.

He is survived by his beloved wife of many years, Susan; his daughters, Hillary and Danielle; his sons-in-law, Greg and Ben; his cherished grandchildren, Ezra, Levi, Oscar, Lola, and Elan; his sister, Nurit Silverbush of Ashkelon, Israel; and extended family in Israel. He was predeceased by his daughter, Lindsey, of blessed memory.

Dr. Baron was born on February 24, 1947, in the town of Rehovot, in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, Dov Oltesberg and Ruth Rudich, were refugees from Berlin and Austria who were sent independently as teenagers to escape the impending Holocaust in Europe. They later met and married at Kibbutz Gezer, an agricultural community situated between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. His father, Dov, was killed in 1948 while defending the kibbutz during Israel’s War of Independence. His mother later remarried David Baron, a veteran of Russia’s Red Army who immigrated to Israel following World War II.

A graduate of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a veteran of the Six-Day War, Dr. Baron met his future wife, Susan—the love of his life—while traveling to the United States to visit family. For more than 50 years, he kept the unused return portion of his airline ticket, joking that it was “in case he needed it.”

Despite arriving in the United States with limited English, Dr. Baron was accepted to and graduated from the New England College of Optometry, earning his Doctor of Optometry degree. Alongside his friend Lionel Gilels, he helped found Empire Vision Centers, which grew into a major regional optical retailer and later became part of Eye Care Centers of America and subsequently Visionworks, now one of the largest optical retailers in the United States.

After settling in Delmar, New York, Dr. Baron devoted his entire professional career to the practice of optometry. He took great pride in caring for his patients, often detecting early signs of serious illness and improving the quality of life for those he served.

Dr. Baron’s greatest joy in life was his family. He was a devoted husband and father, a loving grandfather, and a loyal, steady presence to his wide circle of friends and relatives. Known for his humility and lack of pretense, he was admired for his quick wit, warmth, and sense of humor. He had a deep love of animals, enjoyed reading, good food, and singing and dancing, and was a passionate gardener and New York Knicks fan. He was deeply attached to his homeland of Israel and longed for peace in the region.

Those wishing to remember Dr. Baron in a special way can make memorial contributions to The Lindsey Baron Legacy Fund.

Funeral services for Dr. Baron will be held on Tuesday April 14th at 11:00am at The Levine Memorial Chapel, 649 Washington Ave. in Albany. Burial will follow at Temple Israel Cemetery.

May his memory be for a blessing.

The Funeral services will be livestreamed on Zoom and can be viewed by the following link:

Funeral Live Stream        Meeting ID: 818 4620 2935      Passcode: 392833

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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