George C. Heitzman, Sr., MD's Obituary
George C. Heitzman, Sr., MD, of Fayetteville, a surgeon who performed both the first coronary bypass operation and the first pacemaker implantation in Syracuse, passed away Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, after a brief hospitalization. He was 93.
Dr. Heitzman was born and grew up in East Syracuse, the son of George and Katharine Cook Heitzman, graduating from East Syracuse High School, where he and his brother, the late E. James Heitzman, MD, played football. He attended Syracuse University and graduated from the SU College of Medicine, now the Upstate College of Medicine, in 1947.
His medical training continued with an internship at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence from 1947-49, a residency in pathology at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City from 1949-50, a residency in general surgery at Upstate Medical Center from 1950-53, service in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in France from 1953-55, a staff surgeon post at the VA Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1955, and a thoracic surgical residency at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colo., 1955-57.
In 1958, Dr. Heitzman started the first open-heart surgery program at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse. In 1963, he implanted the first pacemaker in Syracuse, and in 1970, he performed the first coronary bypass in Syracuse. He practiced as a thoracic surgeon until his retirement in 1988.
A 2008 newspaper story headlined “To Touch Hearts” offered a retrospective of his career, including some of the lives he saved, and helped inspire him to write a memoir that was published two years later, “For the Record, My Life as a Heart and Chest Surgeon.”
Dr. Heitzman’s career and pioneering work in open heart surgery were also profiled in a segment of NBC’s “Today” Show by Bob Dotson, author of “American Story, a Lifetime Search for Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things.” Dotson and his crew came to Dr. Heitzman’s home to interview him for the piece, which aired on Christmas morning 2014. The piece also showed Dr. Heitzman painting a picture, another of his talents; he was a gifted artist who studied under the noted portrait artist Joseph Kozlowski.
In 2015, Dr. Heitzman received the Distinguished Service Award from the Onondaga County Medical Society. He was a member of that society, as well as the American Medical Association, the American College of Thoracic Surgeons and Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society. He was also a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.
He was a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
Surviving are his wife of 36 years, Gina A. Heitzman of Fayetteville, and their son, Jacob Heitzman of San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Heitzman is also survived by his children from a previous marriage, George C. Heitzman, Jr. of Syracuse, Donna Heitzman of Syracuse, Peter J. Heitzman and his wife, Karen Savoca of Munnsville, Jennifer Brown and her husband, Paul of Cold Brook, NY; granddaughters, Eden Skowronski and her husband, Artur, and Jacqueline D’Ambrosio and her husband, Michael; three great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.
A Funeral Mass in celebration of Dr. Heitzman’s life will be held at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 at the Church of Our Lady of Pompei/St. Peter. Private burial will be in Assumption Cemetery. A calling hour will be held from 10:00 -11:00 AM on Tuesday at the church, 301 Ash St., Syracuse.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Church of Our Lady of Pompei/St. Peter or to St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center.
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