William Leslie MacVane Jr., M.D. (June 12, 1915 – August 1, 2010) was an American

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. MacVane assisted in the first

open heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

performed in Maine in 1959 and served as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

, for one term in 1971.

Biography

Early life

MacVane was born on State Street in

, to parents, Dr. William L. MacVane Sr. and Bertha May Achorn. He attended

Hebron Academy Hebron Academy, founded in 1804, is a small, independent, college preparatory boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades six through postgraduate in Hebron, Maine. History Hebron Academy is one of the nation's oldest endowed preparatory ...

, a

college preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

Hebron, Maine Hebron is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Hebron is included in the Lewiston- Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The town's history has always been interconnected with Hebron Academy, a co-ed college prepa ...

. MacVane's interest in medicine began in his teens, when he underwent a

mastoidectomy A mastoidectomy is a procedure performed to remove the mastoid air cells, air bubbles in the skull, near the inner ears. This can be done as part of treatment for mastoiditis, chronic suppurative otitis media or cholesteatoma. In addition, it is s ...

. The doctors asked MacVane to accompany them on their rounds during his recovery. MacVane went on to earn a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and a medical degree from

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Surgical career

Following medical school, he was an intern and then assistant resident in surgery at Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore. During World War II, Dr. MacVane served as an Army Officer in the 61st Portable Surgical Unit. He was stationed in the Philippines and Japan during and after the war. MacVane was a recipient of the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for performing "major surgery under adverse conditions." After World War II, MacVane was

honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

from the Army in 1946 as a

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He returned to Maine, becoming the first surgical resident at Maine General Hospital in Portland. Additionally, MacVane became an attending surgeon at other hospitals in Maine, including Portland City Hospital, the Maine Medical Center, Mercy Hospital and Togus V.A. Hospital. He briefly left Maine for two years in the early 1950s. He worked as both a

thoracic The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...

surgery resident at the V.A. Hospital in Oteen, North Carolina, and a thoracic surgery fellow at

George Washington University Hospital The George Washington University Hospital is a for-profit hospital, located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The current facility opened on ...

in Washington, D.C., from 1953 until 1955. He once again returned to Maine in 1955, where he practiced thoracic and

general surgery General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid ...

. He assisted Dr. Emerson Drake in Maine's first

, which was performed at Maine Medical Center in 1959. He continued to work as a thoracic surgeon and

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

in hospitals throughout the state. MacVane also served on the executive committee of Mercy Hospital for eighteen years. MacVane worked for the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals for ten years after retiring from his surgical career. He surveyed and accredited hospitals throughout the United States, the Middle East and Europe.

Political career

MacVane was elected to the Portland, Maine City Council in 1967 representing the city's West End neighborhood. He took office in 1968 and held the office until 1977. MacVane served as the largely ceremonial Mayor of Portland for one term, from 1970 to 1971. He was also elected to the Portland

School Board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

and served as a member of the Portland Transit Authority.

Philanthropy

MacVane served on the

boards of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

for numerous organizations, including the Portland Chapter of the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

and the Portland

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. He also headed or chaired the committees for the Portland Bicentennial Committee, the Portland Public Library and the Reiche School.

Later life

MacVane remained active throughout his life. He won the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

seniors

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

doubles and singles championships in 1990. He continued to attend classes at the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universitie ...

's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute into his 90s. During his life, MacVane was a member of many Portland area organizations and societies, including Portland Rotary Club, the

Masons Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutt ...

, the Western Maine Torch Club, the Cumberland Club,

Sigma Phi Society The Sigma Phi Society () was founded on the Fourth of March in the year 1827, on the campus of Union College as a part of the Union Triad in Schenectady, New York. It is the second Greek fraternal organization founded in the United States.

and the Portland Yacht Club. MacVane died on August 1, 2010, at the age of 95. He was survived by three children from his 60-year marriage to his wife, Margaret MacVane: two daughters, Lesley MacVane and Margaret Murray and a son, Captain Forbes MacVane of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

. He was also survived by two children from his first marriage, William Harris and Patricia MacVane. MacVane was the oldest living Mayor of Portland at the time of his death in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macvane, William 1915 births 2010 deaths American surgeons Mayors of Portland, Maine Maine Democrats United States Army personnel of World War II Williams College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Portland, Maine School Board members Portland, Maine City Council members Hebron Academy alumni United States Army Medical Corps officers