Who’s Who in Orthopedics grounding in the fundamentals of wound healing, and his observation of man under stress enriched his understanding of human behavior.
Returning to Boston in 1919 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Army of the United States, Ober plunged into his civilian professional career as the associate and protégé of Robert W. Lovett, who was chief at the Children’s Hospital and pro- fessor at Harvard Medical School.
Graduate education of physicians was one of his major interests; he was assistant dean in charge of Harvard Medical School’s courses for graduates for a number of years. Harvard’s present position in graduate medical education owes much to his vision and leadership.
Most of his teaching was done at the Children’s Hospital, where he rose from junior member of the visiting staff to chief orthopedic surgeon in 1931. Simultaneously he climbed Harvard’s aca- demic ladder. He was for 10 years John Ball and Buckminster Brown Clinical Professor of Ortho- pedic Surgery. Like most good surgical profes- sors, he taught by the case method at grand rounds and by demonstration of his technical ability, which was characterized by a deceptive simplic- ity and the dispatch that came from a thorough knowledge of anatomy and from having thought through the steps of the operation before picking up the scalpel. His surgical skill was evident to the trained observer and was even more evident in the smooth convalescence of his patients and in the excellence of his operative results.
His superb ability as a clinician was appreci- ated by a host of loyal and grateful patients and their families and by referring physicians, who recognized his sound common sense, his sure quick grasp not only of the local problem but of the patient’s hopes, fears, and needs. To rich and poor, wise and foolish, he gave top-flight care. He never fussed over patients; his innate sympathy for his fellow man was masked by a gruff manner of speech, which frightened the timid nurse or resident but was easily penetrated. Even casual acquaintance permitted one to recognize his warm underlying personality and his superior intellect.
Dr. Ober continued Lovett’s custom of going to New York and Philadelphia about once a month to see patients in consultation. For many years he spent a fourth of his time away from his home base in these cities. The month of August was always spent in Northeast Harbor, Maine, where he cared for summer residents and Down-East fishermen alike.
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Frank Roberts OBER
1881–1960
Frank Ober was born at Mt. Desert, Maine, June 1, 1881, and died in Boston on December 26, 1960. Of Down-East Yankee stock, his 80-year life was a kind of Horatio Alger success story, compounded of native ability, ingenuity, hard work, and devotion to duty.
After 2 years at Westbrook Seminary, the equivalent of 2 years of college, he entered Tufts Medical School where he obtained his medical degree in 1905. Following a year of rotating internship, he returned to Maine to spend several years in general practice in Northeast Harbor. But he needed larger fields for his talents and returned to the Children’s Hospital in 1913 by Model-T Ford, with very little money in his bank account and a devoted wife at his side to begin his chosen career in orthopedics.
First there was residency training for 2 years,
after which he became a junior member of the
Children’s Hospital visiting staff. Then came
World War I, which had a decisive influence on
Ober’s career. Before the United States declared
war on Germany, he volunteered for duty with the
original Harvard group, which went overseas in
May 1917 as US Army Base Hospital No. 5. Here
he was in the company of such men as Walter
Cannon, Harvey Cushing, Elliot Cutler, and
Robert Osgood and served as head of the ortho-
pedic section of the hospital in France for almost
2 years. During that time nearly 25,000 patients
with war wounds were cared for in Base Hospi-
tal No. 5. His war experience gave him a solid
In 1915 Vermont had its first major poliomyelitis epidemic. Dr. Lovett visited the stricken areas in that state and laid plans for the convalescent care of the hundreds of children who were severely crippled by the disease. As there was not a single orthopedic surgeon in Vermont, and state medicine was unknown anywhere in the United States and unthinkable in Vermont, finan- cial support for the program of rehabilitation came from private donations. The total cost of the rehabilitation program for poliomyelitis patients in Vermont hospital, professional, and home care, was provided by the annual budget of about
$30,000. For 25 years Dr. Ober was the physician responsible for the execution of the plan and he personally operated upon each of the patients without a cent of remuneration in the form of professional fees. From 1919 till his retirement in 1946, Dr. Ober made an annual tour of the poliomyelitis clinics in Vermont. He prescribed the treatment to be carried out and selected patients suitable for reconstructive surgery. With this wealth of clinical material he developed many surgical techniques of rehabilitation by muscle transposition and by joint stabilization.
These included original muscle transplants to improve function and to correct deformities in weak shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankle.
His interests were not confined to polio- myelitis. He also devised an operation for soft- tissue release in severe club-foot deformity.
Suitably modified, it is used today as a standard procedure. Painful feet and lame backs were two clinical problems that challenged his resourceful mind and to which he brought new insight.
Dr. Ober’s originality of concept and care in execution of his newly devised surgical proce- dures gained them early acceptance even by his professional rivals in a day when clinical rivalry was intense and sometimes bitter.
The residents and younger associates whom he trained adopted and championed his techniques.
He was one of the major influences that made the Boston school of orthopedics shine with particu- lar luster during his time.
Although his clinical work was his vocation, it was not his sole interest. He enjoyed teaching and was an effective teacher. He took pleasure in writing and was the man who made the second edition of Jones and Lovett the best orthopedic textbook of its day. He was working on the third edition at the time of his death. Hunting and fishing were his favorite outdoor sports and nothing was allowed to interfere with his annual
trip to the Adirondacks in search of a deer. After a lunch eaten with dispatch, a friendly game of cards was fun for himself and his companions. He was a witty and sage conversationalist, illustrat- ing the point he wished to make by quoting in dialect an apropos remark by some down-in- Maine character of his acquaintance.
The offices and honors that came his way were many. He was president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and of the American Orthopedic Association. He was chairman of the Advisory Committee of the National Foundation for Infan- tile Paralysis and received honorary degrees from Vermont and Tufts Universities.
His broad philanthropic interest in all handi- capped people was exemplified by the substantial fund that he raised in memory of Dr. Lovett. This Lovett Fund was used to support the early studies on rheumatoid arthritis, sponsored by Harvard Medical School and carried out at the Massachu- setts General Hospital. Our present expanding knowledge of rheumatoid arthritis and the large amount of productive research now going on in this field received its impetus in some part from Ober’s influence.
In addition to the Lovett Fund, he also raised funds to support research at the children’s medical center.
There is no better example of his unselfish devotion to duty than his work at the New England Peabody Home for Crippled Children.
He was its surgeon-in-chief for 17 years, respon- sible for the professional care of its children, most of whom were suffering from skeletal tuberculo- sis. At staff rounds, held each month on Sunday mornings, at the Home, members of the staff and many regular visitors were encouraged to discuss freely the problems of each patient. All those attending rounds quickly developed an apprecia- tion of Dr. Ober’s professional skill. Under his conscientious supervision, the Peabody Home cared for several hundred children with serious long-term illnesses, restoring most of them to health and preparing them for a productive role in society. For the last 14 years of his life he was a member of the Peabody Home Board of Trustees.
His active private practice continued until his death. It could be said of him that the reward for work well done was the ability to do more work.
Enjoyment of his professional work was embel- lished by his Yankee dislike of sham and by his use of the salty phrase.
The end came as he wished it to, suddenly fol- lowing a brief illness, without the slow decline in
248Who’s Who in Orthopedics
health that is painful to watch and more painful to endure. He was strong physically, and able intellectually to the close of his life.
produced the first high-quality color photographs of the interior of the knee joint.
Dr. O’Connor organized and directed many teaching courses on the subject of arthroscopy, the attendance at which was always capacity. His technical skill led to results that were difficult to match. His stamina, vitality, and capacity for work were hard to equal. He found time to write several papers, a monograph, and two books on arthroscopy.
Dr. O’Connor enjoyed classical music and stimulating conversation. His sense of humor was sharp and disarming. He was demanding in his work, but compassionate with his patients.
He demonstrated unusual courage, particularly during the difficult terminal period of his illness, and never gave up hope.
Richard L. O’Connor, a pioneer in the devel- opment of arthroscopic surgery, died on Novem- ber 29, 1980, in Bandon, Oregon, where he spent his last days, following a fight against cancer of the lung. His wife Caroline, whom he married in 1955, was at his side.
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