Chaim was born in 1908 in the city of Będzin, Poland, as the only child of a religious family that owned a leather processing factory. He studied at the Hebrew “Tarbut” high school in the city and was active in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement.
Due to the numerus clausus policy that limited the number of Jews allowed to study at universities, he went to study medicine at the German University in Prague. After completing his studies, he returned to Poland and worked for a time at Dr. Janusz Korczak’s children’s home.
Ada and Haim met in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement and married in 1933. Due to Ada’s exceptional success in fundraising for the movement, they received a certificate (immigration permit) to immigrate to Palestine. In 1935, they arrived at Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek as regular workers. Since Dr. Walgreen wanted to practice medicine, they left the kibbutz, and he began working as a volunteer in Moshav Moledet, and later at the hospital in Afula. During that time, Ada lived in Haifa and worked in a workers’ kitchen to support them both. Due to the difficult transportation and demanding work, the couple saw each other only rarely, and reunited in 1940, when Dr. Walgreen was hired as a physician in Kfar Yona, where their daughters Noa (1941) and Ruti (1943) were born.
In 1945, the family moved to Tel Mond, after Dr. Walgreen was appointed doctor for the settlements of Tel Mond, Kfar Hess, Herut, and Mishmeret. Ada, a woman of strength and resourcefulness, supported him and also worked part-time as a nurse. Their home was always open - they hosted intellectuals and cultural figures who came to Tel Mond for lectures or performances, and it also served as a temporary home for relatives who arrived as immigrants after World War II.
In 1950, the family moved to Tel Aviv, where Dr. Walgreen was appointed director of the Shabazi Clinic. Over the years, he also served as the regional physician for Kupat Holim in the Shomron and Dan districts. The couple were very active socially and politically.
Ada passed away in 1994, and Haim in 1998.