Dr Lawrence Harte was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Oct. 8, 1931, and passed away on May 15, 2026, at the age of 94. He was predeceased by his parents, Joseph and Jean Hartstein. He leaves behind a loving family including his son Dr. Douglas Harte, his wife Ronni, grandson Alex and granddaughter Haleigh, son Dr. Jonathan Harte, his wife Belynda, daughter Helaine Rhode, husband David, granddaughter Rebecca, Step-grandsons, Tyler and Casey Rhode. and his partner and fiancé Kathlyn Phillips and her children Eric and Jennifer and grandson Nicholas.
Lawrence grew up in Brooklyn in post-depression America at 131 Sterling St. and was raised basically by a single mom and uncle. He was encouraged to study hard and excel in all things. He grew up an avid Dodger fan living only blocks from Ebbets field, which taught him perseverance since they always lost to the Yankees (until 1955 of course). The motto was always “wait til next year”, but Dr. Harte grew up with an attitude of today, not next day, this year, not next year. He made each and every day count to its fullest. He was extremely proud of his time with the Boy Scouts and attained the rank of Eagle Scout. You could say he was competitive as he won tournaments at a young age in tennis, table tennis, swimming, track, and in academics. His free time was spent either working in his mom’s clothing store on Havemeyer St., studying at the local public library or wandering thru Prospect Park always dreaming of the future.
He attended the prestigious Brooklyn Tech High School and specialized in math and science. He continued his sports in wrestling and track. He always felt that Brooklyn Tech provided him with the greatest education. He stayed very active for years as an active alumnus. Dr. Harte received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1953. He obtained his dental degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1957. His Orthodontic specialty certificate was awarded to him by the Eastman Dental Clinic of the University of Rochester in 1962. Dr. Harte participated in important research on the head and neck, facial development and cleft palate and patients who had TMD, temporomandibular joint dysfunction. He was one of the few doctors in the country that would specialize in these areas. He would later serve as the director of the cleft palate clinic at St. Barnabas Medical center in New Jersey. He was known to offer his services for free for disadvantaged children.
In between those years Dr. Harte enlisted and served with distinction as a Captain in the United States Air Force serving our country. As an avid stamp collector as a child, he dreamed of seeing different countries and the Air Force provided him with the opportunity of seeing that world. He prided himself on being a multi-linguist when it came to relating with people around the world, whether it be in French, German, Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian or even in Brooklynese.
His travels around the world taught him how to relate and befriend people, which would become one of his greatest strengths. Whilst in the Air Force, besides providing dental care, another of his jobs was as an identification officer for pilots killed in action. To balance that serious side of serving, he was also called upon to represent the Air Force and speak at public ceremonies. He seemed to enjoy being the center of attention.
After his professional training ended, he opened two startup orthodontic offices in Livingston, N.J., and in Sparta, N.J. He used to joke that he was the only orthodontist up in Sussex County for 500 square miles – just him and the local bears. Over the years and with practicing with his son, Doug, he went on to treat 4 generations of patients numbering over 20,000. Dr Harte successfully practiced for 58 years touching the lives of many and making sure They got their smile the Dr “Harte” way. He was known in the office to be funny and entertaining, and he would go to local schools to educate children on dental hygiene. That was just the beginning of his future in lecturing and teaching where he would go on to the biggest stages of national and international conferences and even become an assistant professor at UMDNJ (Rutgers). This would also translate to local community theater which one critic would describe his performances as “unique”.
Nothing ever stopped Dr Harte from trying. He did not believe in starting at the bottom. He became president of the dental and orthodontic societies. He was Chair of the Cleft Palate program and the Dental Department at the Cooper Barnabas Medical Center. He was elected as a Fellow to the American and International College of Dentists. He won awards for Lifetime Achievement was a contributing editor having published numerous articles in prestigious dental journals including The Angle Society and the JCO. He was even published in the New York Times for articles on growing up in Brooklyn and on the Dodgers. He was photographed for the cover of Life Magazine. Lawrence was not an underachiever.
He was proudest when he was appointed as Chairman to the Public Health Council in New Jersey where under his watch every student had to be vaccinated before attending school and that there would be real physical education in the schools. Providing to the health and safety of children was very important to him.
Dr Harte spent over 20 years in Washington, representing the Orthodontic Profession and small businesses. He had the opportunity of meeting Presidents, members of Congress and many other dignitaries from around the world. He had a phrase that in politics if you were not at the table, you would be on the menu.
In his own practice, he was the founder of the New Jersey Center for Facial Pain and the Face and Cosmetic Enhancement Center as well as the Mid-Atlantic Center for Sports Dentistry. In addition to publications above, Dr Harte also found the time to write and publish seven books on wisdom, witty proverbs and life lessons for generations to come. He liked to think of himself as a modern-day Benjamin Franklin.
Later, he focused his competitive nature into the game of Bridge where he would beat grand masters well into his 90’s. Age was never a factor for Dr Harte. He became an excellent artist in watercolor painting, acrylic glass blowing and metal sculpture. He always had a love of the sea and enjoyed his years of sailing with his children. He was known to be incredibly philanthropic to all types of organizations, especially those dealing with children. Dr. Lawrence Harte lived a very full life of achievement, adventure, and resiliency. As Kipling said: “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, ...Yours is the earth, and everything that’s in it, And – what is more- you’ll be Man, my son!”
Dr Harte felt his greatest gift was trying to be there for his family all the time. He loved and adored his family very much. He had the uncanny ability to make people feel good about themselves and always said “ I never met a stranger”.
