| Inalee Rotbart Koonin |
Inalee 'Lee' Koonin CEO, Nutrition Advocate
2009
Inalee "Lee" Koonin, a former chief executive of a Bethesda flooring company, who established a foundation and was a nationally
recognized authority on administering nutrients through tubes or intravenous methods, died of multiple organ failure Nov. 19 at her home in
St. Augustine, Fla. She died on her 74th birthday.
Mrs. Koonin developed Crohn's disease, a digestive-tract disorder that often inhibits the absorption of nutrients from food, in the 1960s. By
1977, she weighed only 68 pounds. Through an experimental procedure called total parenteral nutrition, she was eventually able to inject
nutrients intravenously at home, which allowed her to lead a more comfortable life.
She and her husband formed the Lifeline Foundation, which merged in 1986 with the Oley Foundation, to provide information and
educational programs about enteral nutrition (delivering nutrients through tubes leading to the stomach) and parenteral nutrition
(administering nutrients through a vein) in home settings. Mrs. Koonin became an advocate for such people and often gave interviews to
the media and testified before Congress.
Inalee Rotbart was born in Washington and was a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School. She lived in Massachusetts and Illinois before
returning to the Washington area in 1984. She was chief executive of JA-Mar Flooring, a family-run flooring business in Bethesda, for almost
20 years. She lived in the Howard County community of Highland before moving to Florida in 2004.
In February 2010, Mrs. Koonin is scheduled to be the posthumous recipient of the national Lyn Howard Nutrition Support Consumer
Advocacy Award from the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
Survivors include her husband of 55 years, Marshall Koonin of St. Augustine; and a daughter, Susan Koonin of Potomac.
2009
Inalee "Lee" Koonin, a former chief executive of a Bethesda flooring company, who established a foundation and was a nationally
recognized authority on administering nutrients through tubes or intravenous methods, died of multiple organ failure Nov. 19 at her home in
St. Augustine, Fla. She died on her 74th birthday.
Mrs. Koonin developed Crohn's disease, a digestive-tract disorder that often inhibits the absorption of nutrients from food, in the 1960s. By
1977, she weighed only 68 pounds. Through an experimental procedure called total parenteral nutrition, she was eventually able to inject
nutrients intravenously at home, which allowed her to lead a more comfortable life.
She and her husband formed the Lifeline Foundation, which merged in 1986 with the Oley Foundation, to provide information and
educational programs about enteral nutrition (delivering nutrients through tubes leading to the stomach) and parenteral nutrition
(administering nutrients through a vein) in home settings. Mrs. Koonin became an advocate for such people and often gave interviews to
the media and testified before Congress.
Inalee Rotbart was born in Washington and was a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School. She lived in Massachusetts and Illinois before
returning to the Washington area in 1984. She was chief executive of JA-Mar Flooring, a family-run flooring business in Bethesda, for almost
20 years. She lived in the Howard County community of Highland before moving to Florida in 2004.
In February 2010, Mrs. Koonin is scheduled to be the posthumous recipient of the national Lyn Howard Nutrition Support Consumer
Advocacy Award from the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
Survivors include her husband of 55 years, Marshall Koonin of St. Augustine; and a daughter, Susan Koonin of Potomac.