Leonard Paul, M.D., led the Department of Family Practice for 12 years.
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Leonard Paul, M.D., who worked tirelessly to develop the Department of Family Practice into a recognized specialty in the Health Science Center’s School of Medicine, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the age of 82.

A memorial service for Dr. Paul will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Boerne. Details about a campus-wide memorial service will be posted on the employee portal when they become available.

The professor and chairman emeritus was completely dedicated to the practice of medicine and his family. He was beloved by his many patients, was considered to be the consummate role model by his students and was respected by his colleagues as a professional who sought to distinguish a specialty that required a broad knowledge of many diseases and conditions over the full spectrum of ages.

Leaves practice to enter academic medicine
Health Science Center President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., said, “At the peak of his successful career, Dr. Paul left his medical practice for academic medicine. He said it was because he wanted to be challenged. That search for excellence epitomized the man and his contributions to patients and to our Health Science Center. He will be profoundly missed.”

Dr. Paul practiced medicine for 54 years
During his 54-year career, Dr. Paul practiced for 23 years in Michigan City, Ind., three years in Columbus, Ohio, four years in Irvine, Calif., and 23 years in San Antonio. He retired from the Health Science Center in September 2005.

Graduated summa cum laude from medical school
Dr. Paul received a college scholarship to study engineering, but he became interested in medicine after serving World War II as a laboratory technician in the Army Medical Corps. He graduated cum laude in 1947 from Cleveland State University and later summa cum laude from Ohio State University College of Medicine.

“Dr. Paul was a very smart man. He was at the top of his class in medical school,” said Janet Realini, M.D., M.P.H., a volunteer faculty member and medical director of Project WORTH at the San Antonio Metropolitan Health Center. “People tried to talk him out of being a family doctor, but he became one anyway. Being a family doctor is one of the most demanding specialties. He was totally devoted to it.”

Recruited to head the Department of Family Practice
Always seeking a new challenge, he entered academic medicine as an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Ohio State University in 1975, where he later was associate professor and director of the undergraduate program. In 1978 he went to the University of California-Irvine, where he was associate professor, deputy chairman and director of the residency program in the Department of Family Practice. He was recruited to become chair of the Health Science Center’s Department of Family Practice in 1982, a position he held until 1994, when he became chairman emeritus.

Promoted department’s academic reputation
Lewis Rose, M.D., clinical associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, said, “Dr. Paul really moved us from a mainly clinical and teaching department into one with an academic reputation to be proud of. His determination, patience and persistence got us our own independent teaching inpatient service at a time when these were not common in big teaching hospitals.”

Role model for physicians
Dr. Paul’s primary care physician at his death was F. David Schneider, M.D., professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. “Dr. Paul hired me to work as a faculty member here. I’ve known him for 15 years. He was a wonderful man and one of my mentors as a teacher, faculty member and as a professional. What I will always remember about Dr. Paul will be his gentlemanliness. He conducted himself with such decorum and professionalism that he really set the bar for what we should all be as physicians,” Dr. Schneider said.

In an interview celebrating his 50th year as a physician, Dr. Paul said his job was anything but mundane. “You think you’re going to have a normal day, and every afternoon there’s a surprise. But that’s the challenge of it. That’s the fun of it.”

Family health center named for Dr. Paul
Dr. Paul established the Leonard G. Paul, M.D., Distinguished Professorship Endowment Fund at the Health Science Center. The Leonard G. Paul Family Health Center in the U.T. Medicine San Antonio Diagnostic Pavilion is named in his honor.

Honors
Among his many honors, Dr. Paul was named the 1998 Family Physician of the Year by the Alamo Chapter of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians and by the statewide organization. He also was a member of the Texas Medical Association 50 Year Club. In 1995 he was named the St. Luke’s Physician by the Catholic Physician Service and Physician Emeritus by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians. He served as Physician of the Day for the state senate in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993 and 1995.

“Not too many people can honestly say that they enjoyed every day of their profession,” Dr. Paul said during a ceremony honoring him upon his retirement from the Health Science Center in 2005. “I am a very lucky man.”

Survivors
Dr. Paul is survived by his wife, Nancy; children from his first marriage: Michael J. Paul and his wife, Paula, of Wilmington, Del., Kathy Caywood and husband Ed of Tucson, Ariz., and Stephen Paul and his wife, Janice, also of Tucson. He also is survived by his grandchildren Becky, Dillon, Ben, Faye, Stryder and Nika, as well as his sisters, Dorothy Vatalaro, Libby May, Mary Jo Stepanski and Linda Pusateri and their families.

Donations
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Hill Country Animal League SPCA, 115 West Bandera Road, Boerne, Texas, 78006, the Brighter Days Horse Refuge, 623 Kraus Road, Pipe Creek, Texas, 78063, or an animal charity of your choice.