Dr. Lester Aubrey Wall Jr., a retired Baltimore internist who during his professional career personified the virtues of the old-fashioned general practitioner, died Tuesday of complications from Alzheimer's disease at a daughter's home in The Woodlands, Texas.
The longtime Guilford and Towson resident was 94.
The son of a banker and homemaker, Dr. Wall was born in Baltimore and raised on Kenwood Avenue. He was a 1933 graduate of City College and earned a bachelor's degree in 1937 from St. John's College in Annapolis.
While attending the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Wall worked summers at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratories in Massachusetts.
After graduating from medical school in 1941, Dr. Wall enlisted in the Army Air Forces and completed an internship at Grasslands Hospital — now Westchester Medical Center — in Westchester County, N.Y.
Called to active duty in 1942, Dr. Wall served as a flight surgeon in North Africa, Sicily and Italy with the 66th Fighter Squadron of the 57th Fighter Group.
During World War II, he attained the rank of captain, and his decorations included two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star.
After the war, he returned to Baltimore and completed his residency from 1945 to 1947 in internal medicine at Lutheran Hospital.
Dr. Wall began practicing medicine in 1948 in an office in the 1000 block of St. Paul St., later moving his practice to the 4300 block of N. Charles St.
"He had great humanitarianism and was a very humble type of man," said a daughter, Margaret W. Beacham, who lives in the Woodbrook neighborhood of Baltimore County.
"If one of his patients couldn't afford something, he'd take care of them. If they needed a ride to the hospital or home, he'd drive them," Mrs. Beacham said. "There was no limit to what he'd do for someone."
Mrs. Beacham recalled her father being late for her wedding in 1970.
"He was very apologetic, but he had to take a patient who couldn't afford a ride home from the hospital," she said. "If they couldn't pay, he'd still treat them. Being paid wasn't important to him. Getting them well was."
Mrs. Beacham said her father put in long hours in his practice.
"He'd make a house call at the drop of a hat and sometimes wouldn't get home until 2 or 3 in the morning because he had been making calls and visiting patients. With him, he practiced medicine 24/7," she said. "And it was because of this that his patients felt very close to him. He was a man who was always trying to do good."
Mrs. Beacham said her father looked forward to family dinners on Sundays, when one of his favorite things was to play an opera and discuss it.
Dr. Bruce E. Beacham, a Baltimore dermatologist, recalled his father-in-law getting him out of bed in the middle of the night to make a medical call.
"When I was in medical school, he'd call sometimes at 3 a.m. to tell me we were going to the hospital because he wanted me to listen to a certain patient's heart murmur," said Dr. Beacham. "Lester was the complete gentleman and, in my opinion, a doctor's doctor. He was one of the most brilliant individuals I've ever encountered in 40 years of medicine."
In addition to his practice, Dr. Wall taught medical students at the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.
"He was also an outstanding teacher and continued learning cutting-edge scientific information," Dr. Beacham said. "He also epitomized the best a clinician could be and could communicate this to medical students.
"Lester really was well known for being the keenest clinician in the Baltimore area. He actually loved to teach others not just to diagnose a patient but also how to treat them, and he treated everyone with a great deal of respect," Dr. Beacham said. "You had a first-class encounter when you had Lester Wall as your doctor."
After retiring in 1976, Dr. Wall worked in the coronary step-down unit at St. Joseph Medical Center.
He was a lifetime fellow of the American College of Physicians and a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians. He was a member and former president of the Baltimore Medical and Surgical Club.
During his Baltimore years, Dr. Wall held season tickets for Baltimore Colts games. He enjoyed attending the theater and making trips to Broadway several times a year to see the latest productions.
He also was a fan of opera and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concerts.
Dr. Wall moved in the late 1970s to St. Petersburg, Fla., where he lived for 16 years and enjoyed boating and fishing. He was also a world traveler.
For the past year, Dr. Wall had been living in The Woodlands, where he was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church.
Services are private.
Also surviving are his wife of 68 years, the former Bernice Wilkens; a son, Thomas A. Wall of Madisonville, La.; a daughter, Judith Isphording of The Woodlands; seven grandchildren; and 29 great-grandchildren.