Dr. Edward Selig Kallins, a longtime Baltimore physician who played a pivotal role in the founding of Northwest Hospital Center, died Jan. 1 of a heart attack at Tidewell Hospice and Palliative Care in Bradenton, Fla.
The former Pikesville resident was 101.
Born Edward Kallinsky in Baltimore, he was the son of prosperous owners of several five-and-dime stores and a men's clothing shop. The family later changed its last name to Kallins.
Dr. Kallins was raised at the family home on Eutaw Place and at White Woods, a farm near Parkville, and at a summer home on the Magothy River.
Working as a lifeguard, Dr. Kallins put himself through pharmacy school, earning his degree in 1929 from the University of Maryland.
He immediately enrolled in medical school, earning his medical degree in 1934 from the University of Maryland.
"He was 8 when he decided he wanted to become a doctor. That was in 1917 after his family came down with the flu, and they all managed to survive," said a daughter, Judy Kallins Hassan of Owings Mills. "He talked about the flu that came the next year that killed hundreds, and of seeing bodies being transported in carriages."
Dr. Kallins began practicing medicine in the mid-1930s in a Pratt Street office, and enlisted in the Army Reserves. He was also assistant chief of the allergy clinic and instructor in medicine at the University of Maryland.
With the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the Navy and graduated from the naval hospital in Philadelphia, where he specialized in epidemiology and pathology. He was also a graduate of the School of Tropical Medicine at the naval hospital in Treasure Island, Calif., near San Francisco.
As a lieutenant commander and a medical officer, Dr. Kallins participated in the historic landings at Leyte, the Philippines and Okinawa.
Writing in The Baltimore Sun in 1945 of his experiences in Okinawa, Dr. Kallins said that in "good times these people are pitifully poor — and now they have nothing — no souvenirs, no money, especially American, and no home of their own."
Dr. Kallins was discharged in 1946; his decorations included the Philippine Liberation Battle Star and Okinawa Battle Star.
After returning to Baltimore and his medical practice, Dr. Kallins soon established offices on North Avenue, Liberty Heights Avenue and finally Park Heights Avenue, from which he retired in 1985.
"He even saw patients at his home. He had a general practice in internal medicine and even delivered babies. He primarily had Jewish patients from Northwest Baltimore, eventually treating generations of the same family," Ms. Hassan recalled.
"He worked Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and then he'd come home for dinner and then go back to the office at 6 p.m., where he saw patients until 10:30 p.m." Ms. Hassan said. "Sundays, he spent all day at the hospital."
"Patients were always waiting at the back door, lined up to see him before the doors even opened at 7 a.m.," said his wife of 69 years, the former Marie Catherine Maletesta.
When his home phone rang in the wee hours, Dr. Kallins answered it, and if need be, would visit a sick patient.
Dr. Kallins also made house calls and family members said no matter what the hour, he always left home dressed in a suit, tie and hat.
In addition to his own practice, Dr. Kallins was the company physician for M.S. Levy Co., the largest manufacturer of straw hats in the U.S., and was chief medical immigration officer for the State of Maryland.
In 1962, Dr. Kallins established Liberty Court Rehabilitation Hospital, which later became Baltimore County General Hospital in Randallstown. Today, the hospital complex is the Northwest Hospital Center.
"He never asked for anything and was always willing to give," Ms. Hassan said. "He let people charge office visits and for those who couldn't pay, he just let it go. People would sometimes give him chickens, cakes, oysters or vegetables in lieu of payment."
In a 2009 interview with the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Dr. Kallins recalled how he accepted what his patients could afford to pay or barter because of the consequences in not doing so.
"They went to quacks or worse," Dr. Kallins said, or fell prey to homemade remedies and medical advice, which could put a patient at risk.
After retiring, Dr. Kallins moved to Bradenton.
Dr. Kallins screen-tested to play himself in Barry Levinson's 1990 film "Avalon."
"He had been the personal family physician to the Levinson family," Ms. Hassan said. "He didn't get the role because he refused to take off his glasses. A doctor friend ended up playing him."
Longevity is a family trait, Ms. Hassan said. His paternal grandfather, Lewis Abraham Kallinsky, lived to be 117 years old. The grandfather "walked to Baltimore each day from Catonsville, smoked cigars and had five wives," Ms. Hassan said, laughing.
"My father never smoked and maybe had one or two highballs a month. He didn't exercise but ate a balanced diet," she said. "He was very disciplined. He never ate more than one portion and carried no excess weight."
Dr. Kallins enjoyed traveling and taking cruises during his annual six-week vacation.
He was a Mason and a member of Oheb Shalom Congregation.
Services were Friday in Bradenton.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Dr. Kallins is survived by three sons, William J. Kallins, Dr. Marc S. Kallins and Scott B. Kallins, all of Bradenton; another daughter, Carol Kallins Bloom of Pikesville; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.