Obituary

From Star Tribune on December 12, 2021:

Handler, Seymour, MD passed away peacefully at the age of 92, on December 11, 2021. Seymour will be greatly missed for his boundless energy, enthusiasm, and biting wit. He was a man of integrity and strong principles. His intense work ethic and focus on education was passed along to his four daughters. Seymour Handler, MD, was born to William and Toby Handler, in Bronx, NY, on August 20, 1929, in a three room, one-bathroom apartment with his parents and three younger sisters. His sisters shared one bedroom, and he slept in the living room with a folding bed he put up and down every day. He grew up playing stickball in the streets and became an avid handball player, winning multiple tournaments while in college. That sport led to years of competitive tennis; he also enjoyed downhill and cross-country skiing, and golf. He attended the prestigious Peter Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. Despite the academic rigor, Seymour was in the top 10% of the class in a group of students that were already highly selected. During his high school years, he earned money as an office boy where his manager told him about Jamestown College in Jamestown, North Dakota. He graduated from high school early and started college in February of 1947. He had never been on a plane. It was so cold there that he said, ""my ears would freeze, so I ended up wearing clean jockey shorts on my head at night to keep my ears from getting cold."" After two-and-a-half years in Jamestown, he was accepted at the University of Minnesota medical school. His entrance exam score was the second highest in the country. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Montana during college summers to pay his tuition. He often recalled how he climbed up and down mountains, maintaining trails, telephone lines, and spending 18-20 hours per day fighting fires. He was nominated to Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Society, as a junior student. In his junior year, he became an intern at the former Northwestern Hospital. While there, a colleague convinced him to do his medical internship at Philadelphia General Hospital. In 1954, he was called up by the United States Air force and was sent to Korea. He spent two years as a captain in the Air Force; the second year was spent at Brooks Air Force in San Antonio where he met his wife of 65 years, Patty. After only three months, they were married. After working as a general practitioner in St. Cloud, Seymour and Patty moved to Minneapolis where he began his pathology residency at the University of Minnesota. He also worked at the VA Hospital. He joined Tom Semba, M.D., his mentor and longtime friend, in the pathology practice at North Memorial Hospital, where he spent more than 40 years. While there, he developed quality control practices and transfusion protocols that became the gold standard for healthcare. He also taught at the University of Minnesota Medical School where he received several teaching awards. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to do a sabbatical in London on three occasions, where Seymour lectured at the Royal London Medical College; the Brits referred to him as the ""Yank of Pathology."" Their first home in South Minneapolis, where their four daughters were born, is where they met most of their lifelong friends. In 1967, the family moved to a home near Lake Calhoun. After their daughters left for college, they moved to a St. Louis Park home, and eventually to a townhome in Edina. After retirement, they enjoyed extensive travel, time spent with friends at their Turtle Lake, WI cabin, and winters in Destin, FL and Sun City Grand, AZ. Seymour was involved with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, where he taught a course called ""Controversies in Health Care."" He also wrote a book called ""Money is not the Cure,"" published in 2006. Seymour was predeceased by his parents and three sisters, Florence, Sheila and Norma. He is survived by his loving wife Patty and four daughters: Deb Russell, Stacey Brown (Gordon), Vicki Handler (Eric Newton), and Susan Harrah. He is also survived by ten grandchildren: Kristin Brown, Erin Yablonski (Jim), Tyler and Autumn Love, Nicole and Daniel Harrah, Patric and Marcus Russell, Elliot (Kathryn) and Ava Newton. This summer, Seymour was able to meet his first great grandson, Abbott Yablonski.