Martin Dobelle (December 25, 1906 - August 11, 1986) was an American
surgeon.
Early life and education
Born in New York City December 25, 1906, the son of Harry and Ida Kaplan Dobelle, he grew up in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. An alumnus of
Boys High School
Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...
, he received a track and field scholarship to and graduated from
Fordham University in 1926 where he was a member of
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
. After working in a Brooklyn pharmacy for two years, he studied medicine at the
University of Ghent
Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium.
Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...
in Belgium, where he received his M.D. degree in 1932. As an intern and resident, he served in various American hospitals, including
Boston City Hospital
The Boston City Hospital (1864–1996), in Boston, Massachusetts, was a public hospital, located in the South End. It was "intended for the use and comfort of poor patients, to whom medical care will be provided at the expense of the city, and . ...
, at which time he held teaching fellowships at both
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
and
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. Later he became one of the first doctors in this country to successfully develop an
artificial hip joint.
Career
Dr. Dobelle came to Pittsfield in 1939, opening offices in the Onota Building. He was affiliated with Hillcrest, Fairview and North Adams Regional hospitals, as well as the House of Mercy, later Pittsfield General Hospital, and St. Luke's Hospital, the last two of which were later merged to become
Berkshire Medical Center.
In 1943 he closed his private practice and entered the Army as a first lieutenant. He left nearly four years later as a lieutenant colonel, having served as chief of orthopedic surgery at the Army hospital in
Fort Belvoir
Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fai ...
, Virginia, and chief of surgery service at Halloran General Hospital in Staten Island. He was cited for meritorious performance while at Fort Belvoir, where he reorganized the orthopedic section and set up a teaching program, and was decorated three times for surgical accomplishment.
He was named civilian orthopedic consultant to the Veterans Administration, a post he held for 20 years, and to the office of the surgeon general, the Federal Security Commission, and U.S. Department of Labor. Dr. Dobelle returned to Pittsfield in 1947. He moved in 1955 to 769 North Street, a house he converted to contain offices for six doctors, acting as his own architect and contractor.
He spent much of his life working with crippled children. He was chief of surgery at the Carrie Tingly Crippled Children's Hospital for Indian Children in Hot Springs, New Mexico, and consulting orthopedic surgeon for Kaiser Permanente Foundation Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also served as chief orthopedic surgeon at the Cape Kennedy Missile Center in Florida for three years during Project Mercury and was consultant in orthopedic surgery to the Air Force Military Support Facility at Patrick Air Force Base.
He returned to Pittsfield in 1965 and two years later was appointed
medical examiner
The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology that investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictio ...
for central
Berkshire, a post he held until 1982. He was also a five-year member of the state Board of Registration in Nursing.
Family
His wife of 43 years, Lillian Mendelsohn Dobelle, died in 1979. A graduate of the former
Paterson State Teachers College, New Jersey, she earned a master's degree in History from NYU and was a certified high school principal. The couple often wintered in Florida, where Dr. Dobelle also had a medical practice and was Chief of Staff of the Monroe-Jackson Hospital, which he built in
Hollywood, Florida in 1956. Upon his passing, he left two sons,
William H. Dobelle
Dr. Bill Dobelle (October 24, 1941 – October 5, 2004) was a Medical research, biomedical researcher who developed experimental technologies that restored limited sight to blindness, blind patients, and also known for the impact he and his compan ...
and
Evan Dobelle
Evan Samuel Dobelle (born April 22, 1945) is a former public official and higher-education administrator, is known for promoting higher-education investment in the Creative Economy, public-private partnerships and the "College Ready" model tha ...
, and four grandchildren.
Memberships
Dr. Dobelle was president of the Nicholas Andre Orthopedic Society, a diplomate of the American Board of Orthopedists, a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, and a founding fellow of the International College of Surgeons, as well as a member of the American Medical Association and Massachusetts and Berkshire medical societies. He retired from the practice of medicine in 1975.
A former president of Temple Anshe Amunim, he was a member of the American Legion, and Crescent Lodge of Masons and the Shriner Melha Temple in Springfield, Massachusetts from which he received his 50-year pin in 1983. He was given a gold medal by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union for 50 years of service and interest in the labor movement.
References
*''The Berkshire Eagle''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobelle, Martin
1906 births
1986 deaths
American orthopedic surgeons
Fordham University alumni
Harvard University people
Tufts University faculty
Ghent University alumni
20th-century American physicians
Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni
20th-century surgeons