Obituaries

In Memory Of...

Bruce Weaver, DO

- July 8, 2006

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Dr. Seymour Brown: Chief of anesthesiology at St. John's Mercy for 40 years

07/04/2006

Dr. Seymour Brown, a St. Louis pioneer in anesthesiology, died Monday (July 3, 2006) at St. John's Mercy Medical Center from respiratory failure. He was 90 and lived in Clayton.

Dr. Brown was born in St. Louis and attended Normandy High School. He graduated from Washington University with a medical degree and was in the Navy as a ship's physician during World War II, serving on the Benham, a naval destroyer that sank during the battle of Guadalcanal.

Dr. Brown became interested in anesthesiology during his time in the service, in which he was forced to practice medicine in trying conditions. He once performed an appendectomy on the officers' dining room table.

He served as the St. John's chief of anesthesiology for 40 years. He was among the first in St. Louis to make regular pre- and post-anesthesia patient rounds, and he popularized advances in Caesarean section deliveries.

"He had boundless energy, a tremendous intellect and an absolute dedication to medicine," said his son, Donald E. Brown of Annapolis, Md. "He was 100 percent doctor."

The Seymour Brown Annual Lectureship in Anesthesiology and Critical Care was established at St. John's in 1984.

Visitation will be Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at Congregation Shaare Emeth Temple, 11645 Ladue Road, St. Louis. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. at the temple, followed by interment at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, 650 White Road, Chesterfield.

In addition to his son, survivors include his wife of 65 years, Rose Tropp Brown of St. Louis; two sisters, Dorothy Raizes of Minneapolis and Shirley Cohen of Los Angeles; and a granddaughter.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. John's Mercy Medical Center, 615 South New Ballas Road, Creve Coeur, Mo. 63141; or the American Heart Association, 460 North Lindbergh, St. Louis, Mo. 63141