Buel S. Smith

Buel S. Smith M.D., age 86, passed away on Thursday, January 15, 2015. He was born in Mineola, New York on April 10, 1928 to Henry Buel Smith M.D. and Hazel Perkins Sweezy, and had been a resident of Akron, Ohio since 1958.

On August 25, 1962, he married Jean Parish, a life-long Akron resident. During their 53 years of marriage and particularly following his retirement, they enjoyed their time together traveling the world, spending winters in Naples, Florida and visiting with family.

Survivors include his beloved wife, Jean (Parish); son, Leland P. (Talis Haight) Smith of Los Angeles; daughter, Deborah (Daniel) Marquardt of Cincinnati; grandchildren: Austin, Connor, Riordon, and Taylor Smith, and Matthew and Henry Marquardt; brother, Thornton Smith, and sister, Shirley Anderson, both of New York.

Dr. Smith received his Medical Degree from The School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1952, after graduating cum laude from Phillips Exeter Academy and attending Harvard College. He finished his surgical internship at the University Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI, and his Residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at Case Western Reserve University, with two years in between serving in the US Army Medical Corps, European Command, at the U.S Army Hospital in Versailles, France.

In 1958, Dr. Smith began 35 years of practice in Orthopaedic Surgery in Akron. He practiced at many area hospitals, and served as President of the Medical Staff at Barberton Citizens Hospital and Akron General Medical Center (AGMC). Trained as a generalist, he became particularly interested in spine surgery and joint replacement and traveled to England to perfect new techniques of total hip replacement.

Dr. Smith served as Chairman and Director of the Residency Training Program in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at AGMC for the last 18 years of his career, living out his passion of educating and developing more than 60 outstanding doctors. Upon his retirement in 1993, he wrote "it is the development of the Orthopaedic residency which will always remain the highpoint of my career." Dr. Smith also took great interest in the growth of NEOUCOM (now the Northeast Ohio Medical University), where he was a professor and served as the Chairman of the College's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery from 1982-1993.

AGMC dedicated the "Buel S. Smith Orthopaedic Surgery In-Patient Center" in 2010, honoring his lifetime commitment to patient care, medical education and research. Additional honors he treasured were his election to the Society of Distinguished Physicians at AGMC in 1988 and receiving the President's Award at commencement from NEOUCOM in 1994.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 11:00AM at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1361 W. Market St., Akron.

Memorial contributions may be made in Dr. Smith's honor to: the Orthopaedic Research Fund at the Akron General Foundation, 1 Akron General Way, Akron, Ohio 44307; NEOMED Development Foundation, P.O. Box 95, Rootstown, Ohio 44272; or a charity of one's choice.

(Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel 330-867-4141)