Robert M. Zinman, devoted son, husband, father, grandfather and beloved retired professor of law at St. John’s University Law School, has passed away at the age of 92. He leaves behind his wife Marion, his sons Abraham, David, and Daniel, his daughters-in-law Heidi and Jennifer, and his grandchildren, Samara, Amanda, Zachary, Benjamin, Alexa, and Zoey. He graduated from Tufts University and then served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Following his active service, he used the GI Bill to go to Harvard Law School. He then joined the Navy JAG reserves, eventually rising to the rank of Captain, while working in-house at Metropolitan Life. He took early retirement from Met Life, having become Senior VP, head of the real estate law practice and chief investment counsel. He then joined St. John’s University Law School as a professor, where he taught property and creditor’s rights. While at St. John’s, he founded the ABI Law Review and began the Conrad Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition.
Bob believed in volunteer work for his community. He was a president of Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, NY, a long-standing member of the executive committee of the Real Property Section of the New York State Bar Association, and a founder and past-president of the American Bankruptcy Institute, among many other legal organizations to which he devoted many years of service. Bob was an irredeemable punster and will be sorely missed.
His funeral will be held at the Prout Funeral Home in Verona, New Jersey on Tuesday, March 5 at 10:30 a.m. The family will be sitting shiva on Tuesday, March 5 from 7-9 p.m., Wednesday, March 6 from 4-8 p.m., Thursday, March 7 from 4-8 p.m. and Sunday, March 10 from 1-4 p.m. at 299 Ridgewood Avenue, Glen Ridge, NJ 07028. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Robert M. Zinman Scholarship at St. John’s University Law School.