by Matthew Tandysh, MD(Current updates added by Erin Damour)
Although the history of the New Mexico Pediatric Society begins in 1945, the history of pediatrics
in New Mexico stretches back another decade and a half. The American Academy of Pediatrics
was founded in 1930, with the country divided into 4 regions. Region IV consisted of the entire
West and listed 56 members to start. By 1934, there were four physicians listed as practicing
pediatrics in New Mexico: two in Albuquerque (Dr. Wylder and Dr. Adier), one in Santa Fe (Dr.
Lathrop), and one in Clayton (Dr. Mulligan).
The genesis of the New Mexico Pediatric Society occurred on December 20, 1945 at the home of
Meldrum K. Wylder, M.D. There were now eight pediatricians in the state and Dr. Wylder invited
them to outline the principles of the new society. Committees were formed to draft by-laws and a
constitution, and they agreed to meet again in two months. The eight founding members were
Drs. Adier, Fishback, Hotopp, Lathrop, Service, Trombley, Werner, and Wylder.
Stuart Adier was born in Yonkers, NY in 1892. He attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA and
received his M.D. from Harvard, in 1919. After an internship and pediatric residency at Boston
City Hospital and a pediatric fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, he came to work for the Lovelace
Clinic in Albuquerque in 1933. Dr. Adier became the first board-certified pediatrician in the state
in 1936. As a consequence of this, he attracted patients from all over New Mexico. In 1941, Dr.
Adier became a public health officer in Santa Fe. In this role, he learned that Bernalillo County
was the least safe place in the US to have a baby, with an infant mortality rate of 130 per 1000
births vs. a national average of 20 per 1000. He instituted a training program for midwives, which
by 1948 had lowered the mortality rate dramatically to 69 per 1000 births. Dr. Adier returned to
private practice in Albuquerque in 1944.
Over the years Dr. Adier received numerous awards, including Man of the Year from the NM
Chamber of Commerce in 1951, Physician of the Year from the NM Medical Society in 1956, and
the A.H. Robins Community Service Award in 1964. He retired in 1964 and died in 1987, having
survived 31 years after a pulmonary malignancy had been accidently detected and subsequently
removed.
Charles Fishback was born in Terre Haute, IN in 1907. He attended the University of Illinois and
received his M.D. from Northwestern University. Dr. Fishback interned in Ann Arbor, did general
practice in Wisconsin, and then undertook a three-year pediatric fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.
He joined the Lovelace Clinic in 1941 to replace Dr. Adier, practicing there until retirement in
1972.
Dr. Fishback became interested in dancing while a teenager and actually was a professional
dance instructor during college and medical school. He and his wife, Katherine, founded the
Fishback School of Dance in Albuquerque and, forever after, he was known as "the dancing
doctor.” He died in 1990.
Marion Hotopp was born in New Jersey in 1900. She attended Mount Holyoke College and
received her M.D. from Cornell in 1934. She interned at the Medical Center of Jersey City and
did residencies at three different hospitals. Dr. Hotopp then earned a Masters of Public Health
from Harvard and accepted the directorship of the Maternal and Child Health Division of the NM
Health Department. Except for 9 months in private practice assisting Dr. Service in Roswell, Dr.
Hotopp worked for the Health Department until her retirement in 1967.
The achievements of Dr. Hotopp are legend. She was instrumental in improving the mortality rate
of infants in rural New Mexico, especially among the Navajos, by emphasizing the health and
nutritional benefits of breastfeeding. After retirement she became a medical missionary in Central
America. Dr. Hotopp never married and she passed away in 1976.
The information on Albert Lathrop is rather sparse. He was born in 1894 and received his M.D.
from Columbia in 1920. In the 1920's his medical prac tice was limited to treating tuberculosis at
a sanitarium in Connecticut. Dr. Lathrop was licensed to practice medicine in New Mexico in
1931 and practiced pediatrics in Santa Fe until the early 1970's. He served as president of the
NM Medical Society in 1953-1954.
Allen Service was born in Firton, NJ, in 1907. He attended Penn State University and received his
M.D. from Hahnemann in 1933. In 1939, he pursued a pediatric residency at the Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia. He was board-certified in pediatrics in 1942 and became an Associate
Professor of Pediatrics at the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia.
Dr. Service joined the Lovelace Clinic in 1945 as head of their pediatric department. In 1949, he
moved to Roswell, practicing pediatrics there until 1969 when he left private practice to go to
American Samoa. There he helped establish programs to address some of the problems causing
their high infant mortality rate. After 4 years. Dr. Service returned to Capitan, NM, retiring in
1979. He died in 1991.
Robert Trombley was born in Minnesota in 1901. He received his M.D. from the University of
Minnesota and interned in Duluth. His pediatric training was obtained at the University of
Chicago and the Milwaukee Children's Hospital. He was licensed in New Mexico in 1939 at which
time he too joined the Lovelace Clinic. Shortly thereafter Dr. Trombley served in WWII as a
Captain in the US Navy. When he returned to Albuquerque, he entered private practice and
remained an active pediatrician until his retirement in 1974. Dr. Trombley died in 1977.
Ly Werner was born Frida-Wally Brandenburg in Berlin, Germany, in 1893. She obtained her M.D.
from the University of Erlanger, Bavaria, Germany, in 1920, and did her pediatric training at the
Kaiser & Kaiserin Frederick Kinder Krankenhaus in Berlin until 1922. The records are unclear as
to when she came to the US or when she married Dr. Walter Werner. She did postgraduate work at
the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee and was licensed in New Mexico in 1934. Dr. Werner was
board certified in Pediatrics but was also a Fellow in the American College of Allergists. She was
the first secretary/treasurer of the New Mexico Pediatric Sodety. Dr. Werner retired in 1967 and
died in 1973.
Meldrum Wylder was born in Illinois in 1877. He was the son of a pioneer Methodist minister. He
attended Marion College in Indiana and received his M.D. in 1901 from Washington University
Medical School. He interned in St. Louis and practiced there for a year. He contracted TB and,
as a result moved to Albuquerque by way of El Paso in 1903. Dr. Wylder had studied under some
pediatric specialists at both St. Louis Children's Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital and was
accepted into the newly formed American Academy of Pediatrics in 1930.
Over the years, Dr. Wylder delivered and cared for more than 15,000 babies. He was instrumental
in the formation of the NM Department of Public Health and introduced legislation to require
immunization against diphtheria in order to be enrolled in public school. Dr. Wylder was the
catalyst for the New Mexico Pediatric Society, and served as its first president. He authored many
scientific medical papers and wrote a most enlightening and entertaining book, Rio Grande
Medicine Man. The Society's annual spring meeting is named after Dr. Wylder. Dr. Wylder died
in 1964.
The New Mexico Pediatric Society's first order of business was petitioning the State Legislature for
workable laws for the licensing and control of all child-caring institutions in the state. Thus began
a close working relationship with lawmakers on issues affecting the children of New Mexico. The
Society has continued to grow, with emphasis on improving healthcare by disseminating
information to physicians and the public. Fellowship with other healthcare professionals has been
a spin-off benefit.
It is difficult in this short history to mention all the physicians who contributed to better the
healthcare of New Mexican children as members of the New Mexico Pediatric Society. A few
names from the earlier years come to mind: Dr. Catherine Armstrong, who was the first pediatrician
in Carlsbad in 1950, and one of only two women physicians in the entire southern half of the state,
Dr. Frank Nordstrom, the first pediatrician in Farmington, who overcame prejudice against his
youth and his specialty, Dr. Carol Smith of Santa Fe, who contracted paralytic polio while a
pediatrician, but continued her practice from a wheelchair, Dr. Alice Cushing, a native New
Mexican, who trained at the old BCMC and went on to become a professor, an expert in infectious
disease, and chairman of the UNM Pediatric Department, Dr. Evelyn BasileGay, the first
pediatrician in Las Cruces in 1951, Dr. Robert Tully, who contributed his time and resources to
furthering the education of aspiring physicians at the University of New Mexico School of
Medicine and Dr. Valerie McNown, who pioneered pediatrics from Espanola north to the Colorado
border.
The New Mexico Pediatric Society has been honored three times with national awards of
excellence. In 1981, in 1995, and again in 2003 it has received the Outstanding Small Chapter
Award of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The current membership stands at roughly 350
including pediatricians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, public health workers, pediatric
nutritionists and child psychiatrists.
Although the history of the New Mexico Pediatric Society begins in 1945, the history of pediatrics
in New Mexico stretches back another decade and a half. The American Academy of Pediatrics
was founded in 1930, with the country divided into 4 regions. Region IV consisted of the entire
West and listed 56 members to start. By 1934, there were four physicians listed as practicing
pediatrics in New Mexico: two in Albuquerque (Dr. Wylder and Dr. Adier), one in Santa Fe (Dr.
Lathrop), and one in Clayton (Dr. Mulligan).
The genesis of the New Mexico Pediatric Society occurred on December 20, 1945 at the home of
Meldrum K. Wylder, M.D. There were now eight pediatricians in the state and Dr. Wylder invited
them to outline the principles of the new society. Committees were formed to draft by-laws and a
constitution, and they agreed to meet again in two months. The eight founding members were
Drs. Adier, Fishback, Hotopp, Lathrop, Service, Trombley, Werner, and Wylder.
Stuart Adier was born in Yonkers, NY in 1892. He attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA and
received his M.D. from Harvard, in 1919. After an internship and pediatric residency at Boston
City Hospital and a pediatric fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, he came to work for the Lovelace
Clinic in Albuquerque in 1933. Dr. Adier became the first board-certified pediatrician in the state
in 1936. As a consequence of this, he attracted patients from all over New Mexico. In 1941, Dr.
Adier became a public health officer in Santa Fe. In this role, he learned that Bernalillo County
was the least safe place in the US to have a baby, with an infant mortality rate of 130 per 1000
births vs. a national average of 20 per 1000. He instituted a training program for midwives, which
by 1948 had lowered the mortality rate dramatically to 69 per 1000 births. Dr. Adier returned to
private practice in Albuquerque in 1944.
Over the years Dr. Adier received numerous awards, including Man of the Year from the NM
Chamber of Commerce in 1951, Physician of the Year from the NM Medical Society in 1956, and
the A.H. Robins Community Service Award in 1964. He retired in 1964 and died in 1987, having
survived 31 years after a pulmonary malignancy had been accidently detected and subsequently
removed.
Charles Fishback was born in Terre Haute, IN in 1907. He attended the University of Illinois and
received his M.D. from Northwestern University. Dr. Fishback interned in Ann Arbor, did general
practice in Wisconsin, and then undertook a three-year pediatric fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.
He joined the Lovelace Clinic in 1941 to replace Dr. Adier, practicing there until retirement in
1972.
Dr. Fishback became interested in dancing while a teenager and actually was a professional
dance instructor during college and medical school. He and his wife, Katherine, founded the
Fishback School of Dance in Albuquerque and, forever after, he was known as "the dancing
doctor.” He died in 1990.
Marion Hotopp was born in New Jersey in 1900. She attended Mount Holyoke College and
received her M.D. from Cornell in 1934. She interned at the Medical Center of Jersey City and
did residencies at three different hospitals. Dr. Hotopp then earned a Masters of Public Health
from Harvard and accepted the directorship of the Maternal and Child Health Division of the NM
Health Department. Except for 9 months in private practice assisting Dr. Service in Roswell, Dr.
Hotopp worked for the Health Department until her retirement in 1967.
The achievements of Dr. Hotopp are legend. She was instrumental in improving the mortality rate
of infants in rural New Mexico, especially among the Navajos, by emphasizing the health and
nutritional benefits of breastfeeding. After retirement she became a medical missionary in Central
America. Dr. Hotopp never married and she passed away in 1976.
The information on Albert Lathrop is rather sparse. He was born in 1894 and received his M.D.
from Columbia in 1920. In the 1920's his medical prac tice was limited to treating tuberculosis at
a sanitarium in Connecticut. Dr. Lathrop was licensed to practice medicine in New Mexico in
1931 and practiced pediatrics in Santa Fe until the early 1970's. He served as president of the
NM Medical Society in 1953-1954.
Allen Service was born in Firton, NJ, in 1907. He attended Penn State University and received his
M.D. from Hahnemann in 1933. In 1939, he pursued a pediatric residency at the Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia. He was board-certified in pediatrics in 1942 and became an Associate
Professor of Pediatrics at the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia.
Dr. Service joined the Lovelace Clinic in 1945 as head of their pediatric department. In 1949, he
moved to Roswell, practicing pediatrics there until 1969 when he left private practice to go to
American Samoa. There he helped establish programs to address some of the problems causing
their high infant mortality rate. After 4 years. Dr. Service returned to Capitan, NM, retiring in
1979. He died in 1991.
Robert Trombley was born in Minnesota in 1901. He received his M.D. from the University of
Minnesota and interned in Duluth. His pediatric training was obtained at the University of
Chicago and the Milwaukee Children's Hospital. He was licensed in New Mexico in 1939 at which
time he too joined the Lovelace Clinic. Shortly thereafter Dr. Trombley served in WWII as a
Captain in the US Navy. When he returned to Albuquerque, he entered private practice and
remained an active pediatrician until his retirement in 1974. Dr. Trombley died in 1977.
Ly Werner was born Frida-Wally Brandenburg in Berlin, Germany, in 1893. She obtained her M.D.
from the University of Erlanger, Bavaria, Germany, in 1920, and did her pediatric training at the
Kaiser & Kaiserin Frederick Kinder Krankenhaus in Berlin until 1922. The records are unclear as
to when she came to the US or when she married Dr. Walter Werner. She did postgraduate work at
the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee and was licensed in New Mexico in 1934. Dr. Werner was
board certified in Pediatrics but was also a Fellow in the American College of Allergists. She was
the first secretary/treasurer of the New Mexico Pediatric Sodety. Dr. Werner retired in 1967 and
died in 1973.
Meldrum Wylder was born in Illinois in 1877. He was the son of a pioneer Methodist minister. He
attended Marion College in Indiana and received his M.D. in 1901 from Washington University
Medical School. He interned in St. Louis and practiced there for a year. He contracted TB and,
as a result moved to Albuquerque by way of El Paso in 1903. Dr. Wylder had studied under some
pediatric specialists at both St. Louis Children's Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital and was
accepted into the newly formed American Academy of Pediatrics in 1930.
Over the years, Dr. Wylder delivered and cared for more than 15,000 babies. He was instrumental
in the formation of the NM Department of Public Health and introduced legislation to require
immunization against diphtheria in order to be enrolled in public school. Dr. Wylder was the
catalyst for the New Mexico Pediatric Society, and served as its first president. He authored many
scientific medical papers and wrote a most enlightening and entertaining book, Rio Grande
Medicine Man. The Society's annual spring meeting is named after Dr. Wylder. Dr. Wylder died
in 1964.
The New Mexico Pediatric Society's first order of business was petitioning the State Legislature for
workable laws for the licensing and control of all child-caring institutions in the state. Thus began
a close working relationship with lawmakers on issues affecting the children of New Mexico. The
Society has continued to grow, with emphasis on improving healthcare by disseminating
information to physicians and the public. Fellowship with other healthcare professionals has been
a spin-off benefit.
It is difficult in this short history to mention all the physicians who contributed to better the
healthcare of New Mexican children as members of the New Mexico Pediatric Society. A few
names from the earlier years come to mind: Dr. Catherine Armstrong, who was the first pediatrician
in Carlsbad in 1950, and one of only two women physicians in the entire southern half of the state,
Dr. Frank Nordstrom, the first pediatrician in Farmington, who overcame prejudice against his
youth and his specialty, Dr. Carol Smith of Santa Fe, who contracted paralytic polio while a
pediatrician, but continued her practice from a wheelchair, Dr. Alice Cushing, a native New
Mexican, who trained at the old BCMC and went on to become a professor, an expert in infectious
disease, and chairman of the UNM Pediatric Department, Dr. Evelyn BasileGay, the first
pediatrician in Las Cruces in 1951, Dr. Robert Tully, who contributed his time and resources to
furthering the education of aspiring physicians at the University of New Mexico School of
Medicine and Dr. Valerie McNown, who pioneered pediatrics from Espanola north to the Colorado
border.
The New Mexico Pediatric Society has been honored three times with national awards of
excellence. In 1981, in 1995, and again in 2003 it has received the Outstanding Small Chapter
Award of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The current membership stands at roughly 350
including pediatricians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, public health workers, pediatric
nutritionists and child psychiatrists.
| IN REMEMBRANCE: DR. ROBERT TULLY |
teacher and father, died June 5, 2004, at age 87. Affectionately called by his children "Old Save-A- Life," Bob Tully was born on October 31, 1916, the eldest of three children in a first generation Irish- German family living in the industrial city of Pittsburgh. Education being one of the few roads out of the steel mills where his father and grandfather worked, Bob scaled the scholastic structure, leap-frogging two grades and entering the U of Pittsburgh at sixteen. Dubbed "Laughing Boy" by his peers for his high spirits and continual laughter, he secured a BS in chemistry and a place in the U of Pittsburgh scholastic hall of fame. He then completed an MS in biochemistry at the U of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, shortly thereafter relocating to the U of Wisconsin in Madison to work on a PhD in physiology. A wartime shortage placed him, at 23, in charge of the medical school's hospital laboratories, a vantage point from which chance conversations with the participating doctors kindled an interest in what was to become his all-consuming life's work, medicine. It was in Madison that Bob met and wed Mary Ann Pope, in secret, because at that time nursing students were not allowed to be married. Bob graduated from the U of Rochester medical school in 1948. He detoured to Smith, Kline, and French pharmaceuticals in time to work on development of the first time-released medication Teldrin, before serving in the Army Medical Corps at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In 1957, Bob moved his family to Albuquerque, briefly joined the Lovelace Clinic and then, with the help of Mary Ann, established himself as a sole practitioner. Wholly committed to his burgeoning number of patients, the improvement of hospital practice (he was the first Chief of Pediatrics at what has become UNM Children's Hospital), and the teaching of young medical personnel, his diversions were few. Relaxation was principally in the form of concertizing on his baby grand late at night after finishing rounds at the hospital. Time with his six children was usually afforded by their companionship on house calls and hospital rounds and their helping out in the office. Bob closed his private practice in 1981. He subsequently increased his clinical teaching at UNM School of Medicine, leading to employment as a full Professor of Pediatrics, an appointment of which he was quietly but immensely proud. He funded development of a library and conference room within Children's Hospital for the benefit of pediatric residents and, in 1995, capping a career of lifelong devotion to his art, Bob received the first annual New Mexico Pediatric Society Recognition Award. Preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ann, Dr. Tully is survived by his six children and their families, Rob Tully and his daughter, Merritt, Rush Tully and Maria Dillon, their children Kristel, Michael and Willy, Nat Tully and Leah Higgins, Joseph Tully, his daughters, Leah and Kendra, Marit Tully and Andy Thomas, Brooke Tully and Tom Bird, and their son Aaron; he is also survived by his sister and her husband, Hulda and Keith Martin, of Kansas; brother-in-law and wife, Paul and Phyllis Pope of Wisconsin; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, George. |
| history: the early years |