After finishing my internship at Wesley Memory Hospital in Chicago, I entered the US Army at Fort Bragg. Two years later, having successfully defended the coast of North Carolina 
from the enemy, I began my surgical residency at the original Childrens Memorial Hospital on Fullerton. There I met Dr. Raffensperger and two disgruntled fellow surgical residents.  
You see, I was released from the military 1 month after the residency began so Harvey Takaki and Bob Jacobi were on call every other night until I arrived. First year resident call in 
the summer of 1973 was extremely busy. With children falling out of windows, children being born around the city with life threatening birth defects, there was no rest. The primary job 
of junior residents then was starting intravenous lines on very tiny children and getting them ready for surgery.  

One of the first patients I had with Dr. Raffensperger was an 18 month old boy whose mother was just released from a mental hospital.  She attacked her child with a knife and inflicted multiple
stab wounds. He had a lacerated liver, several bowel perforations and a lacerated pericardium. My son, born while I was in the Army was the same age.  After a rocky start, the patient survived.
It was baptism by fire. 

Dr. Raffensperger was one of the most pragmatic people I ever met. Surprisingly, he told me that his favorite character in literature was not Sherlock Holmes but rather, Hawkeye Pierce 
from "Mash". They had similar personalities. He taught me that an I.V. was not adequately secured in a child unless you could lift it out of the bed by the tubing, and a dressing on a child's wound was not adequate unless it could be submerged in a toilet for two hours. Doing a bare handed rectal exam on a newborn with his pinky finger and displaying the meconium on the end, remarked how great it was that this child had a patent gastrointestinal tract. 

He was a great man who helped a lot of people.

I was a young nurse working in the NICU and OR at Children's Memorial. Drs. Raff and Luck were the very best. He had a great sense of humour and was always kind to the nursing staff.

Dr. Raffensperger saved my life. I was 5 and had an appendectomy done at Illinois Masonic Hospital. The surgeon botched it. He didn't get everything. I was in the hospital 3 weeks and dying. My father was a stubborn man and, on a friend's suggestion, he insisted that Dr. Raffensperger be involved. I was transferred to Children's Memorial Hospital. I remember waking up and seeing the Apollo 17 mission returning to earth in the recovery room at Children's Memorial. I wasn't a very good patient as I recall! I kept breaking his antiseptic sticks when he wasn't looking because, I think, I'd just had enough at that point and well, I was 5 and a brat. I am sure I would not be here today without his intervention, nor would my two children.  Thank you, Dr. Raffensperger. 

My condolences to his family.

I loved this man - he was my mentor when I was his student at Cook County in Chicago in 1966 and also when I was an intern on his service at "The County" during 1968 

I miss him very much and kept in touch via email until the last few months-

NOW I know why he did no answer my recent emails and I grieve

 Joseph Primrose M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.C.E.P.

November 1957. A little baby boy was going to die from a major and dangerous birth defect. But with God and through the hands of Christ, who touched the hands of Dr. John G. Raffensperger that little baby boy is 65 years old. Little Dion is what the Doctor called him. God bless you and keep you.

Dr. Raffensburger saved my life . I was born 1974 and I had complications from being without an esophagus and he performed a miracle surgery many times and I am now 48 years old. He also did my check up in 1992 so I could go into the Marine Corps. My condolences to his family. He was an amazing Doctor and an even more special human.  

I am so sorry to hear of Doc's passing.  I met him in the mid-1970s dating his eldest daughter, Carolyn.  I will always remember his first comment to me, "Did you come here to get a haircut?"  Doc was a force of nature and we came to appreciate each other in good time.  My favorite memory is some hilarity at the dinner table that I will not repeat here,  My second favorite is joining Doc in Guadeloupe to lend a hand sailing north for the hurricane season.  I send greetings mixed with sorrow and gratitude to all the beloved, extended Raffensperger family.  You are all in my heart.  Please be well.

Father’s Day 19 June 2022. Missing you, Dad. Wish I could do some woodworking with you.

My deepest sympathies to Dr. Raff's family. My time as a medical student was a turmoil, as it was for many others. Sue, your aura of calm made hectic days much more tolerable and I thank you for your kindness and your help over the years. 
Dr. John's demeanour as a leader, in my case,  made him a much-needed steadying influence at a time when the world seemed helter-skelter.  Perhaps we got along as we did because of our senses of humor and our backgrounds, but, we got along well from the get-go. There was not much support 48 years ago in an elite academic institution for a student wishing to pursue family medicine. I found my support in a world-renowned surgeon who could relate to my goal and became, to the surprise of many, my official pre-residency advisor. I still have the letter of recommendation he gave me for my applications. In it, he wrote not of my academic accomplishments but of his reasons for believing that I had in me what was needed to succeed in general practice. I spent 40 years in that field. On the rare occasions in practice that I needed his expertise,   he was quick to return a call and, apart from discussing why I had called, it was just a conversation between two guys who always  just plain got along and were catching up with each other. I can hear his voice as I recall those calls and my time under him at CMH. Thinking of that voice still gives me a sense of calm and warmth and strength.
He was a leader of many, a colleague of many, and for me an admired teacher, source of strength, and a friend. I feel the sense of the loss of a great person, not just the pinnacle of his profession, but an amazing soul. My hopes for you all to quickly find solace emerge from the grief are sincere.

Ted Zamirowski, MD (Zam)
Park Ridge IL

Cantankerous, acerbic, truth-teller, fearless, generous. Don’t forget the Sherlock Holmes books or the History of Pediatric Surgery.  When I was young I feared him. I am so blessed that he lived long enough for me to appreciate him. 

Most families have myths. Stories that get told over and over that help define who that family is. In my family, many of those myths surrounded my dad. There are two myths that I think tell who my dad was in his unique way.

The first is that my dad learned to sail on a homemade skiff, on the Illinois river, reading a book. I imagined him as a boy wearing a straw hat, one hand on the tiller and one on the sheet with a book open in his lap. I asked him about this, and he confirmed that yes, this happened. He was an avid sailor. I grew up sailing with my family on Lake Michigan in a solid, old boat. By modern standards it was bare bones with few electronics. He navigated using paper charts and compass. That boat suited my dad. He liked the idea of dead reckoning, using a sextant, and relying on his own navigation skills. He owned boats for many years. When my dad retired, he sailed across the Atlantic and back. Sailing was his lifelong passion.

The second is that he was on the committee to write the pediatric boards, the tests to certify surgeons. The story goes that the next year he was due to recertify. One of his residents joked with him about studying for the test.  He looked the resident in the eye and said, “You bet I am.” Given that he literally wrote the book on pediatric surgery, I wonder what and how he studied. He was just as demanding of his medical students as himself. All his students have stories about him, and, as one of them said, they are all the same. My dad loved learning and teaching. He was adamant that his kids go to college to continue our lifelong learning. He was proud of the doctors he taught. Even after retiring he continued to write and publish articles and books with topics ranging from surgery, history of medicine, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the environment to his own memoirs. Just this year he published six books. As a surgeon, he innovated several surgeries. Many of these innovations meant that kids that would have died actually lived.


Sending heartfelt condolences. Remember his great sense of humor in APSA meeting.

Subhash Puranik, MD

I met Dr. Raffensperger in 1983 when I was a third year medical student.  I can still tell many stories about my rotation on the pediatric surgery service almost 40 years ago.   For example, I remember one day we saw a really complicated case on rounds in the NICU, and Dr. Raffensperger turned to Dr. Luck and said, "Susan, I think you better operate on that baby."  He was right, of course.  I think that is when I decided that I wanted to be a pediatric surgeon.    

Jonathan Groner

He wanted to be called Uncle Jack rather than grandpa. He wanted to be a friend and teacher to his grand children, to take them fishing and sailing, and send them funny letters. 

With deep sadness I have received the passing of my great mentor, teacher and great friend. One of the great human beings and a great surgeon. He taught us a lot but mostly about caring for  children . May his soul Rest In Peace . My great condolences to his wife , my teacher Suzan Luck , all his children and grandchildren, and  to all those who their lives was touched by him . He was and always will  be the great Dr. Raf. 
Your teachings will go on through the generations. 
Rest In Peace, you have given a lot of your self to humanity. 
zafer skef

OBITUARY

John G. Raffensperger, MD

November 10, 1928 – May 9, 2022

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