Ophthalmologist

Dr. James Roncie Duke, a retired ophthalmologist and Johns Hopkins pathologist who was a collector of F. Scott Fitzgerald's works and lived in what once was the novelist's Baltimore home, died of complications from dementia Oct. 16 in Bolton Hill. He was 88. Born in Tampa, Fla., he was the son of an ophthalmologist. He attended Plant High School in Tampa and was a 1942 graduate of Staunton Military Academy in Virginia. In an autobiographical essay he wrote for a 50th class reunion at Princeton University, he said, "I wanted a change of scene from the South" when he applied to college.

Dr. James Roncie Duke, a retired ophthalmologist and Johns Hopkins pathologist who was a collector of F. Scott Fitzgerald's works and lived in what once was the novelist's Baltimore home, died of complications from dementia Oct. 16 in Bolton Hill. He was 88. Born in Tampa, Fla., he was the son of an ophthalmologist. He attended Plant High School in Tampa and was a 1942 graduate of Staunton Military Academy in Virginia. In an autobiographical essay he wrote for a 50th class reunion at Princeton University, he said, "I wanted a change of scene from the South" when he applied to college.

The Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore has named Dr. Arnall Patz of Pikesville the recipient of the 2005 Lester S. Levy Humanitarian Award. In 1950, Patz, an ophthalmologist, discovered the connection between premature babies in incubators and blindness. He proved that the once-common practice of placing premature infants into incubators filled with pure oxygen, though life-saving, robbed some babies of their sight. From 1979 to 1989, Patz directed the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute.

Owings Mills ophthalmologist Marc Honig and his son, Evan, could have simply donated some money to help the disadvantaged in Honduras. They could have collected some old eyeglasses, or solicited their colleagues and fellow students for help, or tried to convince big corporations to hand over cash and equipment. In fact, they've done all of that — and more. This weekend, the Honigs are beginning a week-long stay at a makeshift medical clinic in a small Honduran village. They and some 40 other doctors and students will volunteer their time, screening and treating thousands of villagers from the surrounding area, bringing healing to a corner of the world desperately in need.

Services for Dr. Harry E. Bloom Sr., a retired ophthalmologist, will be held at 9 a.m. today at the Ruck Funeral Home, 1050 York Road in Towson.Dr. Bloom, who was 81, died after a short illness Friday at Meridian Long Green Nursing Home in Baltimore.He was born in Beaver Falls, Pa., the son of Aaron and Hilma Bloom. He graduated from Geneva College near Pittsburgh in 1930 and received his doctorate in ophthalmology from the Johns Hopkins University Medical School in 1934. After a residency at Baltimore City Hospitals, he entered private practice in downtown Baltimore in 1937.

Dr. Charles Edwin Iliff Sr., an internationally renowned ophthalmologist who pioneered innovative operative procedures at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital, died Tuesday at Hilton Head (S.C.) Medical Center of heart failure.Dr. Iliff, 86, was professor emeritus of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a former resident of Arnold."His death is the passing of an era," said Dr. Robert Bond Welch of Annapolis, an ophthalmologist and friend for 53 years.

Dr. William G. Marr, a retired ophthalmologist, died Feb. 10 at his Greenspring Valley home of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 78.Dr. Marr, who practiced ophthalmology for 34 years from his office at 10 E. Chase St., retired in 1983 because of illness.Dr. Robert B. Welch, an ophthalmologist and associate professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and former director of the retina clinic at The Wilmer Institute, described Dr. Marr as an "excellent surgeon."

Dr. Ross Joseph Brechner, a mathematician turned ophthalmologist who abandoned private practice for a second career in public health, died Aug. 4 of heart disease at his Catonsville home. He was 71. "Ross was a fine ophthalmologist who changed careers late in life after being a highly trained epidemiologist. He was passionate about finding a better way to treat patients with a variety of diseases including blindness of the eyes," said Dr. Morton F. Goldberg, former director of the Wilmer Eye Institute and professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Gordon G. Heiner III, a retired Towson ophthalmologist who earlier had been a Foreign Service officer and reporter, died of cancer Friday at his home in the Charlesbrook neighborhood of Baltimore County. He was 81. Born in West Point, N.Y., the son of a career military officer, Dr. Heiner was raised at several military installations around the country and graduated in 1940 from Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H. He was 16 when he began his college studies at Harvard University, and after completing ROTC training, he enlisted in the Army in 1943.

Dr. Michelle Gelkin, a Baltimore ophthalmologist, has helped improve the vision of more than 1,500 area homeless people free. Her follow-ups take place unexpectedly.She thought she recognized a man sitting on a curb downtown, deep into a newspaper. Sure enough, he was a homeless man she had examined and given eyeglasses. "Dr. Gelkin, this is great. I can read a paper now. Thanks."Gelkin said she diagnosed another man as so shortsighted he was legally blind. He gained self-sufficiency along with his eyesight.

Dr. Howard S. Williams, a former staff physician at Father Martin's Ashley, a Harford County alcohol and substance abuse treatment center, died May 20 of meningoencephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson. The Stoneleigh resident was 54. "We think about Howard every day. Everyone here loved him, " said Dr. Bernadette Solounias, a psychiatrist who is vice president and medical director at Father Martin's Ashley. "He was very compassionate and took very good care of our patients and was unfailingly patient with them," said Dr. Solounias.

Dr. Ross Joseph Brechner, a mathematician turned ophthalmologist who abandoned private practice for a second career in public health, died Aug. 4 of heart disease at his Catonsville home. He was 71. "Ross was a fine ophthalmologist who changed careers late in life after being a highly trained epidemiologist. He was passionate about finding a better way to treat patients with a variety of diseases including blindness of the eyes," said Dr. Morton F. Goldberg, former director of the Wilmer Eye Institute and professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The U.S. government has filed a federal lawsuit against a Baltimore doctor, accusing him of fraudulently billing thousands of dollars for hundreds of medically unnecessary eye procedures performed on dozens of patients at an outpatient clinic owned by Bon Secours Hospital. The 33-page civil suit claims that between Oct. 29, 2002, and April 14, 2009, Dr. John Arthur Kiely repeatedly performed laser eye surgery on patients who didn't need it — more than a dozen times on some people.

We read with interest the article on the Abell Foundation report, "Why Can't Johnny Read," which The Sun wrote about on Monday ("Testing of kids' eyesight faulted," Sept. 27) The Baltimore City Medical Society (BCMS) Foundation, established by Baltimore physicians in 1972, learned of the possible correlation between students' undetected eyesight problems and low academic performance while conducting educational programs in elementary and middle schools. Three years ago, the BCMS Foundation was pleased to secure funding to assist elementary and middle school students with the purchase of eyeglasses.

Dr. William Richard Green, the former head of the eye pathology laboratory of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital who was also a world-renowned pathologist-ophthalmologist, died July 5 from complications of heart disease and diabetes at his Ruxton home. He was 76. Dr. Green, the son of an Illinois Central Railroad inspector and a seamstress, was born and raised in Paducah, Ky. After graduating from Tilghman High School in 1952, he earned a bachelor's degree from Centre College in Danville, Ky., in 1955.

Dr. Samuel Boles Medical director and ophthalmologist Anne Arundel Eye Center, Annapolis Salary : $150,000 Age : 46 Years on the job : One How he got started: Boles received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia, obtaining his certification in 1989. His post-doctoral training included an internship with Yale University, a cornea research fellowship at Harvard University and residency at George Washington University. He later worked as a glaucoma fellow and clinical instructor with the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Alfred Anthony Filar, a retired ophthalmologist and early retina specialist who found the time to make house calls during a lengthy career in eye care, died in his sleep of congestive heart failure April 13 at his Glen Arm home. He was 77. The Baltimore native was raised above his parents' florist shop at Eastern Avenue and Ann Street. As a young man he delivered floral arrangements by streetcar. He was a 1949 graduate of Polytechnic Institute, where he ran track, swam and played football.