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- [S21] Obit.
Dr. Oliver Handelsman / Physician who treated patients with compassion
Sept. 20, 1918 - Sept. 21, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
SEP 27, 2006 12:00 AM
For nearly a half-century, Dr. Oliver Handelsman practiced medicine at UPMC Braddock, so it was not surprising but nonetheless comforting when a steady stream of hospital employees visited him when he was recently hospitalized there.
"They loved him," said George Handelsman of Forest Hills, one of Dr. Handelsman's three sons. "He treated people who worked in the hospital -- nurses, aides, all the staff -- with respect and dignity. ... That's how he treated everyone he dealt with."
Dr. Handelsman, of Churchill, died in the hospital Thursday, one day after his 88th birthday.
He retired from medicine in 1997 after 46 years as a general practitioner of extraordinary skill and compassion.
Early in his career he made medical house calls, but throughout his life he also did so for charity, anonymously delivering clothing and food to the doorsteps of patients he knew needed the help. And often he didn't charge for his medical services.
"Every person I've met has had the highest accolades for my father, not only as a doctor but as a human being," Mr. Handelsman said. "He was almost revered.
"Some people are put on this Earth for certain reasons. All he ever wanted to do was practice medicine and help people."
Dr. Seymoure Krause, a cardiac specialist whose medical practice Dr. Handelsman joined after graduation, called his former colleague "a patient's ideal doctor."
"Patients recognized his qualities and had high praise and respect for him," said Dr. Krause, who now practices at UPMC Shadyside. "He was, in my opinion, just an ideal doctor who learned medicine in terms of it being a service to patients."
Dr. I.J. Pober, who moved to Sarasota, Fla., two years ago after practicing at UPMC Braddock for 25 years, said Dr. Handelsman, whom he and others knew as "Ollie," had no peer professionally or personally.
"He had enormous wit, gentility, charm that's hard to find in the general population. He was a consummate physician, the kind that those who go into medicine can only aspire to.
"He was kind and respectful to his patients, was responsive to their needs and always there for them. He loved his patients and they loved him," Dr. Pober said.
"He was a terrific doctor. But as wonderful a doctor as he was, he was an even better man. He exemplified as a person and a physician the kind I can only hope to come close to."
With offices during his career in Braddock, Forest Hills and Munhall, Dr. Handelsman worked long hours. Until his retirement, he twice weekly had office hours until 1 a.m. to accommodate his numerous patients who wouldn't consider going to another physician.
For about the last eight years of his career, he was in practice with another of his sons, Dr. Gordon Handelsman of Fox Chapel.
Dr. Handelsman was a major in the 101st Airborne during World War II and attended the University of Pittsburgh Medical School on the GI Bill. In 1950, he graduated at the top of his class and went into general practice, which in his early years included obstetrics and gynecology.
Dr. Handelsman first met his wife of 52 years, Claire, when she brought her father, Mike Brenner, to his office for treatment of a broken leg. Mr. Brenner didn't understand why Dr. Handelsman had him return so many times to his office until he saw the blooming romance.
In addition to his wife and sons George and Gordon, Dr. Handelsman is survived by another son, Malcolm, of Robinson; a brother, Al, of Squirrel Hill; a sister, Pearl Bastacky, of Phoenix; and five grandchildren.
Burial was private at Temple Sinai Cemetery.
A reception to celebrate Dr. Handelsman's life will be held Tuesday between 3 and 6 p.m., with a memorial tribute at 4 p.m., at UPMC Braddock's Professional Building, Third Floor, Classrooms A and B.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Dr. Oliver Handelsman Fund, c/o Heritage Health Foundation, 445 Fourth St., Braddock 15104.
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1918 - 2006 (88 years)
