David Joseph Lenihan, 67, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, passed away unexpectedly on December 27, 2017 at the family’s vacation home in Skytop, PA in the Poconos. Born March 4, 1950 to C. Joseph and Alice (Meisner) Lenihan in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada, David was raised in Garden City, New York, and graduated from Garden City High School in 1968. He attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1972. For the past twenty years, David has been a resident of Princeton, NJ.
David began his business career with Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City, and was transferred to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1975 and later became president of Oryx Bank, Ltd. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He joined McLeod, Young & Weir in London covering the Middle East and later was with Merrill Lynch, also covering the Middle East. He later joined the Canadian Consulate in New York City where he was responsible for expansion of cross-border business between the U.S. and Canada. He then became a serial entrepreneur, forming health care industry start-ups, most notably CareGain, Inc., which was sold to Fiserv. At the time of his death, he was chairman and CEO of Healthper, Inc. a health care software company that helps people engage in healthy behaviors, and UVT Therapeutics, a medical device company focusing on Lupus and other autoimmune diseases. David was also on the Advisory Board of SpectraMedix.
He worked to ensure the 2006 passage of the U.S. legislation for Health Savings Accounts, and was a frequent industry speaker on consumer-directed health care. He served as a trustee of his alma mater, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, from 2009 to 2014.
David is survived by his devoted wife, JoAnn Heisen; his children Sara Lenihan, Caroline Lenihan Downs, Douglas, Cindy, Gregory and Courtney Heisen; two grandchildren, Sarina and Jacob Downs; his beloved brother, Michael and his wife Barbara and his nieces Kathryn Lochrie and Laura Lenihan, and his nephew Michael Lenihan. He enriched the lives of all who knew him with his wisdom, his love, his smile, his humor and his grace. He will be sadly missed.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be directed to the Princeton Healthcare System Foundation, 5 Plainsboro Road, Suite 365, Plainsboro, NJ 08536.
