Israel H. "Sonny" Weiner |
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Israel H. "Sonny" Weiner, a retired Lutherville neurosurgeon who had been president of the Maryland Board of Physician Quality Assurance, died of cancer Sept. 11 at Seasons Hospice at Northwest Hospital Center. The longtime Stevenson resident was 82.
Born in Baltimore, the son of a hardware store owner and a homemaker, Dr. Weiner was raised in the city's Park Circle neighborhood.
He was a 1945 graduate of City College and served in the Navy from 1945 to 1946. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1949 from the Johns Hopkins University.
After graduating from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1953, he completed an internship at what was then University Hospital in 1954.
He completed a residency in neurological surgery at University Hospital and served in the Air Force from 1955 to 1957, at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
Dr. Weiner was chief resident in neurological surgery at the hospital from 1959 to 1960.
"Medicine was Dad's life's work. It was a calling to him. He believed that the physician bore a special responsibility to the person with the illness that transcended terms like 'client' and 'provider,' " said a son, Dr. Henry Lachman Weiner, a Chadds Ford, Pa., cardiologist, in his father's eulogy.
"His love for his work was infectious, and it is not surprising that my sister, brother and I have all followed [in] his footsteps," his son added.
Dr. Weiner maintained a private neurological partnership at 1205 York Road in Lutherville from 1960 until retiring in 1993.
He held staff appointments at University of Maryland Hospital, Mercy Medical Center, St. Joseph Medical Center, Franklin Square Hospital Center and Northwest Hospital Center.
He had been president of the Maryland Neurosurgical Society and the Baltimore City Medical Society.
"I knew him in medical school. He was several years ahead of me," said Dr. Lee Russo, a retired neurosurgeon and Glen Arm resident.
"In 1965, he took me into his partnership, and we both worked together until retiring the same day in 1993. It was always a pleasure," he said.
In recalling the nature of the partnership, Dr. Russo said it was common practice for a new doctor to have to buy his way into partnership.
"Not with Sonny. Everyone worked until the work was done, and income was split evenly among the partners, so this contributed greatly to the spirit of the partnership," he said.
"Sonny wasn't just good with his fingers as a surgeon, he was truly a good doctor and extremely bright," Dr. Russo recalled. "He was always the rock and was never into self-promotion or authoritarianism. He was a solid personality."
During the 1980s, Dr. Weiner was director of Marylanders for Malpractice Liability Reform, which advocated making affordable malpractice insurance more available.
Dr. Weiner also served as the first chairman of the Maryland Board of Physician Quality Assurance, the state board that is responsible for licensing and disciplining physicians, from 1988 to 1995, and then remained as a consultant to the panel, now the Maryland Board of Physicians, until becoming ill in July.
"I met him in 2001 when I was appointed executive director of the Board of Physicians, and I was impressed with his intellect and dedication as a physician," said C. Irving Pinder Jr.
"He was very good at recognizing what cases passed his 'smell test' and those that needed further investigation. He was never out to get anybody. He was very proud of his profession and peers," Mr. Pinder said.
Dr. Weiner's work on the board was guided by three things, said Dr. Russo.
"He was very concerned with honesty, competency and ethical behavior," he said. "He was the very embodiment of that. He set very high standards but was very fair. While he was concerned about physicians who got in trouble, he didn't let that distract from his judgment."
Dr. Weiner read widely in the fields of history, science and politics. He was an avid fan of the Orioles and "The Sopranos" television series, family members said.
He was a member for more than 40 years of Chizuk Amuno Congregation.
Services were held Sunday.
Also surviving are his wife of 58 years, the former Isobel Lachman; another son, Dr. Jeremy P. Weiner of Stevenson; a daughter, Dr. Elaine Ellen Weiner of Mount Washington; and nine grandchildren.
Born in Baltimore, the son of a hardware store owner and a homemaker, Dr. Weiner was raised in the city's Park Circle neighborhood.
He was a 1945 graduate of City College and served in the Navy from 1945 to 1946. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1949 from the Johns Hopkins University.
After graduating from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1953, he completed an internship at what was then University Hospital in 1954.
He completed a residency in neurological surgery at University Hospital and served in the Air Force from 1955 to 1957, at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
Dr. Weiner was chief resident in neurological surgery at the hospital from 1959 to 1960.
"Medicine was Dad's life's work. It was a calling to him. He believed that the physician bore a special responsibility to the person with the illness that transcended terms like 'client' and 'provider,' " said a son, Dr. Henry Lachman Weiner, a Chadds Ford, Pa., cardiologist, in his father's eulogy.
"His love for his work was infectious, and it is not surprising that my sister, brother and I have all followed [in] his footsteps," his son added.
Dr. Weiner maintained a private neurological partnership at 1205 York Road in Lutherville from 1960 until retiring in 1993.
He held staff appointments at University of Maryland Hospital, Mercy Medical Center, St. Joseph Medical Center, Franklin Square Hospital Center and Northwest Hospital Center.
He had been president of the Maryland Neurosurgical Society and the Baltimore City Medical Society.
"I knew him in medical school. He was several years ahead of me," said Dr. Lee Russo, a retired neurosurgeon and Glen Arm resident.
"In 1965, he took me into his partnership, and we both worked together until retiring the same day in 1993. It was always a pleasure," he said.
In recalling the nature of the partnership, Dr. Russo said it was common practice for a new doctor to have to buy his way into partnership.
"Not with Sonny. Everyone worked until the work was done, and income was split evenly among the partners, so this contributed greatly to the spirit of the partnership," he said.
"Sonny wasn't just good with his fingers as a surgeon, he was truly a good doctor and extremely bright," Dr. Russo recalled. "He was always the rock and was never into self-promotion or authoritarianism. He was a solid personality."
During the 1980s, Dr. Weiner was director of Marylanders for Malpractice Liability Reform, which advocated making affordable malpractice insurance more available.
Dr. Weiner also served as the first chairman of the Maryland Board of Physician Quality Assurance, the state board that is responsible for licensing and disciplining physicians, from 1988 to 1995, and then remained as a consultant to the panel, now the Maryland Board of Physicians, until becoming ill in July.
"I met him in 2001 when I was appointed executive director of the Board of Physicians, and I was impressed with his intellect and dedication as a physician," said C. Irving Pinder Jr.
"He was very good at recognizing what cases passed his 'smell test' and those that needed further investigation. He was never out to get anybody. He was very proud of his profession and peers," Mr. Pinder said.
Dr. Weiner's work on the board was guided by three things, said Dr. Russo.
"He was very concerned with honesty, competency and ethical behavior," he said. "He was the very embodiment of that. He set very high standards but was very fair. While he was concerned about physicians who got in trouble, he didn't let that distract from his judgment."
Dr. Weiner read widely in the fields of history, science and politics. He was an avid fan of the Orioles and "The Sopranos" television series, family members said.
He was a member for more than 40 years of Chizuk Amuno Congregation.
Services were held Sunday.
Also surviving are his wife of 58 years, the former Isobel Lachman; another son, Dr. Jeremy P. Weiner of Stevenson; a daughter, Dr. Elaine Ellen Weiner of Mount Washington; and nine grandchildren.
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