Diane called me a little earlier tonight to tell me thtat my great uncle Dr. Arnall Patz died peacefully in his sleep last night. He was 89 years old. He was the patriarch of my dad’s side of the family . the, youngest brother of my grandmother Madalyn .. and son of my great grandparents Sarah and Sam Patz who came over to this country from Lithuania in the early part of the last century. He was always like a big brother to my dad and his brother JM.
Arnall was a great man, He was an Ophthalmologist and emeritus professor at John’s Hopkins university. His research preserved the sight of countless thousand of people. His discovery of the linkage of high oxygen doses and retionopathy in premature babies prevented blindness in many premature infants. His work in laser surgery for diabetic retinapathy did the same thing to reduce the incidence of retinal degeneration in adult diabetics. I remember watching grainy black and white 8mm movies of Arnall’s early experiments with using ruby laser for retinal reattachment on raccoons. When Arnall won the Lasker prize for his research in 1956.. the award was presented to him by Helen Keller.
I remember how proud we all were when Uncle Arnall won the Presidential medal of freedom in 2004 ( along with Doris Day and Pope John Paul.:-) . I remember seeing pictures of him and Aunt Ellen with then Pres. George W. Bush getting the award. I told him that standing next to Bush was the closest anyone in our family had ever been to being a a Republican.
All those honors wern’t really what made Arnal special. it was his humanity.. I remember when my ’71 VW bus broke down in Virginia on my way back to college once. I’d cracked a head. I did a battlefield repair which gave me enough compression to coast to Arnall and Ellen’s house in Baltimore. I stayed therefor several days under the car trying to nurse it back to life while Arnall and Ellen gave me encouragement, food and a place to sleep. I’ll never forget that. I also remember Arnall’s 75th birthday. Our families took over a camp in Rangely Maine . There was a huge circle of kids, grand kids and nieces and nephews. I remember one picture where all the males lined up to show our skinny legs, skinny bods with love handles and hairless tops.. All carbon copies.. most of us scientists.. all of us goofy as hell.
Anrnall was the last surviving link to a generation that made the jump to the new world.. (Arnall was born in this country) survived the Holocaust, and established a new life in this country. I often think of what it must have been like growing up as a first generation immigrant jew in the rural south of 1930’s Georgia.. found this link to a census record in Elberton Georgia that lists all my ancestors as ‘Hebrew’s When Arnall’s brother Louis and sister in law Ethel were killed in a plain crash. Arnal and Ellen unofficially adopted their kids Sam, Harry and Sarah.. They grew up as brother and sister to Arnall and Ellens own kids John. David, Susie and Bllly.
Arnall.. you did so much good in this world.. ! You are loved and missed
Gnite all.. gnite Sam
-me
