Dr. Erich A. Everts Sr.'s Obituary
Erich Antonio Everts-Suarez, Sr., M.D., of Cinnaminson, died at home in the arms of his wife on August 2, 2015 at the age of 89. He was known as Tonin to his Puerto Rican friends and PopPop to his three beloved grandsons.
Born to meager circumstances in the small town of Aibonito, Puerto Rico, Everts used his intellect, hard work and educational opportunities to improve his station in life. An outstanding student, he briefly flirted with the priesthood as a vocation, but told a mentor, “Father, I like girls too much”. He dedicated himself to a career in medicine and after only three years at the University of Puerto Rico, he was accepted to Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. It was only through the benefit of scholarship money that he was able to fund his education.
In 1946, he left the island of Puerto Rico for the first time to matriculate at Jefferson. He quickly found that he was going to need to learn English as well as medicine to succeed. He managed to do so while earning numerous honors and awards. He graduated at the top of the JMC class of 1950 and was awarded the W.B. Saunders Prize for top marks at the end of four years. It was during his student years at Jefferson that he met and fell in love with Gilda Mattia, a secretary at Jefferson from South Philadelphia. They were separated for most of a year when Dr. Everts had to return to Puerto Rico to serve his internship. They married in 1951.
Upon his return to Philadelphia, he entered his residency in Pathology at Jefferson under Dr. Peter A. Herbut. Upon completion of his residency, Everts was named chief of Pathology at St. Mary’s Hospital in Fishtown. Dr. Everts served in the United States Army at Fort Meade and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology from 1957 to 1959 and achieved the rank of captain. He went on to found the pathology department when St. Mary’s opened their new Medical Center in Langhorne, Bucks County. He was Chief of Pathology there until his retirement in 1991.
Throughout his career in medicine, Everts lectured and was published. He was board certified in Pathology and Nuclear Medicine. He remained an active teacher and held the rank of Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at Jefferson. He worked in many roles, including serving as a team doctor for the Phillies at Shibe Park and as a physician to the inmates of Eastern State Penitentiary.
Although he spent his career in the Philadelphia area, Everts always maintained a great love for “that little island” of Puerto Rico and visited often. Following his retirement, he returned there from 1992 to 1996 as a volunteer physician and established a department of Pathology at Mennonite General Hospital in his hometown of Aibonito. In tribute to the scholarship support that made his education possible, he has funded a scholarship at Jefferson for medical students of Puerto Rican heritage.
Dr. Everts was a diehard Phillies fan and loved good scotch. He was an avid collector of jewelry and art. He loved to travel and in 1997 he completed an around the world cruise on the Queen Elizabeth II. He was an excellent dancer and enjoyed Latin music. Staff dances at St. Mary’s were colorful affairs when Dr. Everts planned them through the seventies and eighties.
Of his lifetime accomplishments, Everts was proudest of his three children, all of whom followed him into medicine and were educated at his alma mater, Jefferson.
Dr. Everts is survived by Gilda, his loving wife of 64 years, his children; Deborah Everts Hoellein, M.D. (Jim McClory), Erich A. Everts, M.D. (Susan), Leslie E. Everts, M.D. (Robert Noll), and grandchildren; Jennifer Katz, Matthew Everts, Erich “Gus” Noll, Ellis Noll and Rachel McClory.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend Erich’s life celebration memorial gathering on Wednesday evening at Snover/Givnish of Cinnaminson, 1200 Rte. 130 N., from 7 pm – 9 pm, and on Thursday morning at St. Charles Borromeo Church, Branch Pike and Pomona Rd., from 10 – 11 am. His Memorial Mass will begin at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Erich A. Everts, M.D. Scholarship at Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College by visiting www.Advancement.Jefferson.edu/memorialgiving.
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