This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 30, 2011 - Dr. Walter F. Ballinger II, a brilliant surgeon who joined the faculty of Washington University's School of Medicine as its Bixby Professor of Surgery and head of the department in 1967, died Friday. He was 85 years old.
Dr. William Peck, director of the university's Center for Health Policy and a longtime friend of Dr. Ballinger, said, "He was a great surgeon, a world class surgeon. Walter came from Johns Hopkins to be head of a distinguished department, one of the most distinguished in the history of academic medicine. He was also a wonderful person -- brilliant, inquisitive and wise."
Dr. Ballinger died of pneumonia at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, an institution where he spent so many years of his career, and where he continued to serve in retirement as medical professor in Washington University's Health Administration Program.
Walter Francis Ballinger II was born in Philadelphia on May 16, 1925. He was a graduate of Cornell College and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He came to St. Louis from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was associate professor of surgery.
The department Dr. Ballinger came to direct here was shaped and built by such dynamos as Dr. Evarts A. Graham Sr. and Dr. Carl Moyer. Graham's tenure spanned three decades during which, among other achievements, he performed the first pneumonectomy and did early research linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer. Moyer, whose research and innovations in the treatment of severe burns led to the establishment of the burn unit at Barnes Hospital in 1964, followed Graham.
Moyer was Dr. Ballinger's immediate predecessor. When Dr. Ballinger landed in St. Louis in the 1960s, he created something of a sensation. His appearance suggested he might have been dispatched by central casting to act out the role of head of a legendary department of a medical school. As such, in the hierarchical world of medicine, he would be the equivalent of a royal highness.
And should you have seen him -- wearing a crisply starched long white coat, shod in shiny black loafers, striding purposefully through the hospital corridors with assured bearing -- he appeared the physical embodiment of a celebrated surgeon and author, clinician and editor, which is how JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, once described him.
Warmth and Friendliness
On Saturday, friends and colleagues added to those descriptions. Dr. Timothy J. Eberlein now holds the title of Bixby Professor and is chairman of the department of surgery. "Walter was indeed a distinguished man," Eberlein said. "He was a member and president of the Society of Clinical Surgery, an organization whose membership is limited to 45 members. You have to be elected before you are 45. It is a steep trajectory. He was co-editor-in-chief of the magazine Surgery -- that' s probably where I first saw his name. He was a member of the Halstead Society at Hopkins. He was well read and informed scientifically, obviously"
Obviously indeed. He was a member of over 25 medical societies. He wrote over 200 medical articles and eight textbooks dealing with various clinical aspects of general surgery. He was editor of the Journal of Surgical Research. He was honored by the Archives of Surgery as one of 24 surgeons of this generation who've made significant contributions in the areas of research, clinical care and surgical education. He served as a Marine Corps officer in the early 1950s and was the American physician at the Spandau Prison in western Berlin, operated by the four powers following War War II.
But it was Dr. Ballinger' s warmth and friendliness that appealed to his successor. Eberlein declared he's not the sort who goes out to lunch. "I can probably count the number of times I' ve gone out to lunch since I've been here on my fingers" -- with the exception of lunches out with Dr. Ballinger. "It was, for me, something like playing hooky," he said.
The lunches -- relaxed and informal -- formed a paradigm of their relationship. "It wasn't as if he was a mentor, but a strong bond developed between us," one that included books and discussions of Dr. Ballinger's hobbies, along with talk of surgery and the department of surgery.
Not included, Eberlein said, were discussions of medical center politics. Rather, the concentration was on shared interests in the welfare of the department and the medical school. " He was interested in the research we' re doing, and in our educational programs, and issues we are facing," Eberlein said. He praised Dr. Ballinger and his wife, Mary Randolph, for generosity in supporting educational programs.
Enthusiasm and Dedication
Dr. Ballinger came to the medical school during Dr. William H. Danforth's tenure as vice chancellor for medical affairs. Danforth, who now is chancellor emeritus of Washington University, said, "Walter came to St. Louis as an attractive, vigorous, relatively young (age 42) surgeon, to become Bixby Professor of Surgery -- a post previously held by Evarts Graham -- and head of one of the largest and most important departments in the School of Medicine and what was then Barnes Hospital.
"He brought enthusiasm and a dedication to the mission of the department," Danforth continued. "He took a broad interest in the school and in the community. He served for 12 years as head of the department and continued his surgical career long afterwards. He strengthened the department and its teaching programs and helped bring relationships between Jewish and Barnes closer.
"He recognized the talents of and supported Jessie Ternberg, the first woman surgeon granted tenure. He and his wife, Mary Randolph, have many close St. Louis friends who have love and respect them. In retirement Walter kept up his interests in science, medicine and the world."
The association with Dr. Jessie Ternberg deposited Dr. Ballinger smack in the middle of one of the 20th century' s most challenging situations, proper recognition of women in the American work force and in professions in general -- and in medicine in particular.
Carl Moyer (who perhaps deliberately failed to inform the school that this Jessie he'd brought to be a resident in surgery was a woman), invited Jessie Ternberg to Washington University. When she arrived, she was told no women were listed in the current roster of surgery residents. The one listed named Jessie was assumed to be male.
Eventually the confusion was cleared up. Moyer nurtured Ternberg' s career and helped to set it on an extraordinary course. She not only was a brilliant surgeon but also a no-nonsense advocate for women and a trailblazer for them at Washington University and in the profession as a whole.
Dr. Ballinger picked up with Ternberg where Moyer left off. With his help and encouragement, Ternberg said Saturday, she had a primary role in the establishment of the division of pediatric surgery within the department of surgery, and in 1972 was made chief of it.
"I was a member of the department," she said, "and as such I had the opportunity to discuss various and sundry things with Walter. At the time there was no formal status for pediatric surgery. He said, 'Why don' t we make a decision and put you in charge of it?' And that is more or less what happened."
Civic Commitments
Dr. Ballinger's influence extended beyond his work as a clinician and teacher as a player in the civic life of the community. As a member of the board of Forest Park Forever he initiated the St. Louis Kite Festival. He was on the boards of the Center for Plant Sciences at the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Mathews-Dickey Boys' and Girls' Club and the John M. Olin Library at Washington University. He served as president of the St. Louis Kammergild, the Mercantile Library Association and was senior warden of the Episcopal Church of St. Michael and St. George.
He was proud of the resources of this region, but worried about problems and issues facing it. He shared his concerns with a number of men and women of influence, Ned O. Lemkemeier, a lawyer and senior counsel of the Bryan Cave law firm, among them.
"Walter was a special friend," Lemkemeier said. "I was privileged to participate on a regular basis in a discussion group with Walter and a handful of others. Walter was conversant on a wide range of subjects. He was an excellent listener and a thoughtful speaker, with the ability to stimulate the thoughts and actions of others."He was," Lemkemeier concluded, "committed to making our community a meaningful place for all of us."
As his long-time friend Peter Raven said, "During and after his outstandingly successful career as a surgeon, Walter was a remarkable, positive presence in our community. Deeply religious and with an inquisitive, scholarly mind, his fine intellect and his principles stood out in anything he did."
Raven, who is president emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden, recalled too that Dr. Ballinger' s "quick wit and pleasant smile often brightened our days, accompanying interesting conversation and always, some new, worthwhile thinking."
Dr. Ballinger is survived by his wife, Mary Randolph Dickson Ballinger; by his three sons, Walter F. III (Linda D.) of Nantucket, Mass.; Christopher B. (Maria C.) of Palos Verdes, Calif.;and David G. of San Francisco; three grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be at noon on Friday, May 6, at St. Michael' s and St. George' s Church, 6345 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the Dr. Walter F. Ballinger Surgical Academic Education Program at Washington University, Campus Box 1247, 7425 Forsyth Boulevard, Suite 2100, St. Louis, MO 63105; the Mercantile Library Association, One University Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63121; or the Mathews-Dickey Boys' and Girls' Club, 4245 North Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO 63115.