Lenox Dial Baker died on June 2, 1995, from pneumonia. He was ninety-three years old. During the previous few years, he had many medical problems, which he faced just as he had confronted various difficulties throughout his life: with courage, vigor, and forcefulness. For those who did not know him well, these adjectives describe all of his activities. A recent newspaper article, published after he died, described him as "the MacArthur of Orthopaedics." In many ways that analogy was correct, but incomplete. The other side of Lenox Baker's personality was his humane approach to his patients, his consideration for the handicapped, his love of family, and his deep religious conviction. Parallel to these personal characteristics were his active participation and personal interest in athletics, politics, and academia.
Lenox Baker was born in DeKalb, Texas, in 1902. His father was the county sheriff, and his mother was a firm but gentle disciplinarian who encouraged him to make the most of his many talents. Before entering medicine, Lenox went from Texarkana to New York, attracted by the rapid activity of the big city and the challenges of a new way of life. In 1929, he earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee and, in 1932, he graduated from the first medical-school class at Duke University. Because of a serendipitous encounter with George Bennett, Chief of Orthopaedics at Johns Hopkins University, he had an orthopaedic appointment at that institution while he was still a medical student.
Dr. Baker married Virginia Flowers, the daughter of the President of Duke University. He returned to Duke in 1937 as an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, appointed by Deryl Hart, who was the first Professor of Surgery. From 1930 to 1937, the Orthopaedic Division was headed by Alfred I. Shands, Jr. Dr. Baker became Chief of Orthopaedics at Duke in 1938. From 1938 to 1944, he established the Duke Orthopaedic and Affiliated Institutions Training Program. The concept behind this program became his legacy to orthopaedic surgery. He had the foresight to appoint a full-time director, set defined goals, and obtain input from the best orthopaedic minds in the region. His emphasis was on organized teaching and clinical experience as the sine qua non of a competent orthopaedic surgeon. He called on Oscar Miller of Charlotte, Bill Roberts at the North Carolina Orthopaedic Hospital in Gastonia, Warren White at the Greenville Shriners Hospital, Ed Erwin at the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, Al Shands at the Alfred I. DuPont Institute in Wilmington, Everett Bugg at Watts and Lincoln Hospitals in Durham, and Lent Johnson at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Baker was primarily responsible for establishing the North Carolina Cerebral Palsy Hospital, which originally was on Duke-owned property but was built with state funds. He was the Medical Director until his retirement in 1972, at which time the hospital had already been designated as the Lenox Baker Children's Hospital. This facility provided total care to cerebral palsy patients.
At Duke, Dr. Baker was a loyal supporter of the university. He was enthusiastic about Dr. Hart's concept of the surgical private diagnostic clinic within the geographic area of the research university, believing that it provided an ideal environment for the training of orthopaedic residents.
In addition to his academic achievements, Dr. Baker was the team physician for Duke sports activities for thirty years. He was inaugurated into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his contributions.
Dr. Baker's involvement in outlying state orthopaedic clinics began in 1937 and continued throughout his career. These clinics were held each month in the County Health Department under the auspices of the State Crippled Children's Program.
Dr. Baker was a founder and President of the North Carolina Orthopaedic Association. He was also active in the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and served as President of that organization. In 1964, he was elected President of the American Orthopaedic Association, an honor that he cherished more than any of his other professional achievements.
At Duke, Dr. Baker was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus; also, the Medical Center named him as an outstanding alumnus and teacher. He initiated the fund-raising for the Virginia Flowers Baker Distinguished Professor Chair, which was activated in 1988.
In 1972, the members of the Piedmont Orthopedic Society donated funds for a portrait of Dr. Baker, which will hang in perpetuity at Duke. In addition to the Lenox Baker Children's Hospital on the Duke campus, the Outpatient Orthopaedic Clinic at Duke was named in his honor.
After his retirement from Duke, Dr. Baker directed his energies toward the North Carolina State Health Department and became the Secretary of the State Department of Human Resources. He influenced state health policy for many years before and after that appointment.
After Virginia Flowers Baker died, in 1966, Dr. Baker married Margaret Copeland. In recent years, his goal was to outlive her so that he could take care of her at the Hillcrest Center in Durham, where they had lived for the past four years. She died in April 1995.
Dr. Baker is survived by two sons: Robert, an attorney in Durham, and Lenox D., Jr., a cardiothoracic surgeon in Norfolk; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. He also claimed the eighty orthopaedic alumni who became members of the Piedmont Orthopedic Society from 1953 to 1970 as his "children."
J. L. G.