Who’s Who in Orthopedics
control. Dr. Sofield published a series of 100 such cases in 1937.
In World War II, he served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946, first with the Twenty- fifth Evacuation Hospital and then as chief con- sultant in orthopedic surgery to the South Pacific area, the Tenth Army at Okinawa, and the Pacific.
He was awarded the Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star, and five battle stars, and achieved the rank of colonel.
On returning to civilian life, he became chief surgeon at Shriners Hospital for Crippled Chil- dren in Chicago; he retained that post until 1965, after which he remained a consultant until his death. He succeeded Beveridge Moore, about whom he often spoke and whom he greatly admired. Dr. Sofield truly enjoyed caring for the children at Shriners and was well known for his technique of multiple osteotomies and intramedullary fixation (the shish-kebab opera- tion) for osteogenesis imperfecta. Rounds, clinics, and surgery were a joy to him. His attitude of open-mindedness, relaxation, good humor, and tolerance were admired by all. His favorite salu- tation to his young patients, “Hi there, Skeezix,”
made them all sit up and take notice and assured them that they were receiving his complete attention.
In 1946, he established the orthopedic resi- dency program at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Hines, Illinois. This was coordinated with Shriners and with West Suburban Hospital and was designated as the Hines–Shriners program, of which Dr. Sofield was chief until 1965. (Loyola University later was added to the group.) Many residents have passed through these institutions, which now compose the Sofield Orthopedic Association.
He served as associate editor for The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and as consulting editor to Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics. He contributed more than 40 papers to the medical literature and wrote a chapter in Christopher’s Textbook of Surgery on the treatment of fractures.
He also served, starting in 1930, on the faculty of Northwestern University Medical School, where he attained the rank of professor.
Harold Sofield received many honors and held many offices (which are too numerous to list exhaustively) because he truly deserved them and everyone knew that he would do a good job. He was chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at West Suburban Hospital from 1930 to 1975, secretary of the American Board of Ortho-
312Harold Augustus SOFIELD
1900–1987
Harold Augustus Sofield was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on March 27, 1900. He grew up in northern New Jersey, where he attended a two- room elementary school that held eight grades.
Later he was president of his nine-person high- school class. After graduating, he was called to active duty in the United States Navy; he achieved the rating of Signalman Third Class.
After World War I, he attended Columbia College in New York City and then Northwestern Univer- sity Medical School in Chicago. He interned at San Francisco City and County Hospital from 1928 to 1929, after which he returned to Chicago to enter general practice.
Dr. Sofield spent a good deal of time at Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Chicago, where he became acquainted with many of the city’s orthopedic surgeons and began a long and bril- liant career in that specialty; he later became a staff member at that institution. He was on the staff at St. Luke’s Hospital, Chicago, from 1934 to 1942, and at West Suburban Hospital, Oak Park, Illinois, from 1930 until his death.
Dr. Sofield pioneered the operative fixation of fractures of the hip by performing the first nailing of a femoral-neck fracture in the Chicago area.
His method of percutaneous nailing using multi- ple pins became widespread and well recognized.
The Sofield nails were made of stainless steel by
Gus Dreher, the brace-maker at Shriners. These
nails had a screwdriver-type point and were
inserted percutaneously under fluoroscopic
Who’s Who in Orthopedics pedic Surgery for 8 years and president of that
organization from 1955 to 1956, twice president of the Chicago Orthopedic Society, secretary of the American Orthopedic Association for the 1957 and 1958 meetings, president of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons from 1959 to 1960, president of the Chicago Medical Society from 1964 to 1965 and trustee from 1971 to 1976, and a delegate to the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Asso- ciation House of Delegates. In 1980, he received the Chicago Medical Society Public Service Award and in 1981, the Sheen Award, consisting of a plaque and $15,000, from the American Medical Association. He was a founder of the Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation in 1956 and served as its first secretary–treasurer.
He modestly said that Al Shands, president, delivered the Foundation while he just held the retractors.
During the spring, summer, and fall, he played golf regularly, and he was quite good at it. Pho- tography was another hobby, and, as expected, the results were above average.
On April 19, 1934, he married Ruth Robinson, a delightful woman who never forgot a face or name and impressed all residents who passed through his program. This lovely lady helped immeasurably in editing her husband’s writings and in supporting his very active career. Their son, David, is a professor of English literature at Amherst College, and their daughter, Julie Tholander, lives in Billerica, Massachusetts.
Harold Sofield was an exceptional person who used his talents well. He helped others immea- surably, took great pleasure in doing so, and was appreciated by many people. Having worked with him as a resident, an associate, and a partner, I can truly vouch that here was a great man who left an indelible mark on thousands of lives. It had been his custom to invite all of his past and present residents and their spouses to his home on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve. How fitting it was that he should pass on at that very hour, on New Year’s Eve of 1987.
313
