I. Jerome Flance, MD, a renowned physician, educator and pulmonary disease specialist at Washington University School of Medicine since the 1940s, died Friday, April 2, 2010, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He was 98.
Flance, emeritus professor of clinical medicine, was a member of the clinical faculty of the School of Medicine for 53 years. In 1944, he became director of the Washington University Pulmonary Service at the St. Louis City Hospitals and an attending physician at Barnes and Jewish hospitals. In 1953, he initiated a hospital-based, home-care program at Jewish Hospital and served as its director for 11 years. During that time, he also started the first formal home-care program for tuberculosis in the United States.
In 1953, Flance and another longtime clinical professor at the School of Medicine, the late Michael M. Karl, MD, established the Maryland Medical Group, where Flance practiced medicine for 43 years. He also was a past medical director of the St. Louis Lung Association, president of the medical staff of Jewish Hospital and a member of the St. Louis Lung Physicians to Combat Air Pollution.
Upon retiring from medical practice in 1998 at age 87, Flance became the special associate for community redevelopment at the medical school, representing the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corp. in its efforts to revitalize the 45-block Forest Park Southeast community. He was instrumental in the reopening of Adams Elementary, the building of the McCormack House assisted-living center near Manchester Avenue and Kingshighway Boulevard and the construction of parks and playgrounds in the area. He continued working on neighborhood revitalization efforts until 2006, and then continued working to bring better education and health services to underserved children and adults in north St. Louis.
“The contributions Dr. Flance made to both medicine and to the St. Louis community are unmatched,” says Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “He had such compassion for the underserved, dedication to teaching generations of internists and pulmonary disease specialists and a genuine love for medicine. He was also a major advocate for social justice. I have known Jerry since I was a student, and he was a consummate physician and a wonderful human being.”
“We will all remember Jerry for his passionate commitment to providing high-quality medical care to the poor and the underserved,” says Kenneth Polonsky, MD, the Adolphus Busch Professor and head of the Milliken Department of Medicine and physician-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “I have personally been inspired by Jerry’s unflinching devotion to doing the right thing for people less fortunate than ourselves. He will be sorely missed, but his accomplishments have left an indelible impression on all of us.”
Flance, a member of the School of Medicine’s National Council, earned a bachelor’s degree in 1931 and a medical degree in 1935, both from WUSTL. He completed an internship and residency in the Department of Pathology at Jewish Hospital, followed by residencies at Robert Koch Hospital, then called the St. Louis City Tuberculosis Hospital, and the Pneumonia Service at Harlem Hospital in New York.
In honor of his many accomplishments, Washington University gave Flance an honorary doctor of humanities degree in 2002 and The Second Century Award in 1994. The School of Medicine also established the Rosemary and I. Jerome Flance Professorship of Pulmonary Medicine in 1995.
In 2009, he was awarded the Ralph O. Claypoole Sr. Memorial Award from the American College of Physicians. He also received the Department of Medicine Teacher of the Year in 1981, was named the Alumni Founders Day Honoree in 1986, received the Alumni/Faculty Award from the Medical Center’s Alumni Foundation in 1990, and was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Scholarship in his name in 1992.
Flance is survived by his wife, Rosemary; a son, Stephen Flance, of Santa Fe, N.M.; a daughter, Patty Croughan of St. Louis; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Services were held Tuesday, April 6, at Congregation Shaare Emeth, 11645 Ladue Road, Creve Coeur, Mo.
Memorial contributions may be made to the I. J. Flance, MD, Philanthropic Fund, c/o the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, 12 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146.