"Wherever he was planted, flowers grew." With these words, Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, described Dr. Henry T. Bahnson, his mentor and colleague. A leader and innovator in both cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, Dr. Bahnson in 1968 performed the first heart transplant in Pennsylvania, and in 1981 recruited Dr. Starzl to the University of Pittsburgh — a move that his colleagues said helped establish the university as the world's leading transplant center. Dr. Henry T. Bahnson, of Fox Chapel, former professor of surgery and chairman of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, died from the complications of a stroke on Friday, Jan. 10, 2003, in his home. He was 82. "In addition to being the best surgeon I have ever seen," added Dr. Starzl, "Hank Bahnson was just about the finest and most responsible man I ever met." Dr. Bahnson's commitment to the field of medicine has family roots that can be traced back to the Civil War, where his grandfather, Henry Theodore Bahnson, a Confederate soldier, was captured in battle and imprisoned. Following the end of hostilities, Henry Theodore Bahnson received his medical degree from Harvard University and set up his practice in Winston-Salem, N.C. Born and raised in Winston-Salem, Dr. Bahnson was one of four sons in the family of Frederick Fries and Bleeker Reid Bahnson. His father, an inventor and an accomplished metal worker, was the founder and owner of the Bahnson Co., a manufacturer of humidifiers. Bleeker Bahnson was a noted horticulturist and active in the Winston-Salem community. In the tradition of the Bahnson family, who emigrated from Denmark, Dr. Bahnson and his brothers attended the Moravian Church in Winston-Salem. Their great-grandfather was a pastor in the Moravian Church. While attending high school in Winston-Salem, Dr. Bahnson "played the harmonica and accordion," recalled his son, Blalock Bahnson. "My father had his own band in high school, which he called the Red River Boys. They played at socials and school functions." Later in life Dr. Bahnson combined his interest in music with his penchant for innovation and obtained a patent for a modified harmonica called the Bahnson Overblow Harp. In 1941, he graduated summa cum laude from Davidson College, Davidson, N.C., where he was an all-star offensive lineman, and three years later graduated cum laude from Harvard Medical School. In 1945, upon completing his internship in surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Bahnson served for a year in the U.S. Naval Reserves in the Philippines. Prior to completing Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bahnson, while on a blind date, met Louise Porter, a young woman from Brockton, Mass., who at the time was attending the Erskine School. They were married in 1945. Following his discharge from the Navy, Dr. Bahnson returned to Johns Hopkins, where he completed his surgical training. With the exception of the year he spent in research in cardiovascular physiology at the University of Rochester in New York, he remained at Johns Hopkins until 1963, when he was recruited to the University of Pittsburgh to become the department of surgery's second full-time chairman. Dr. Arthur S. Levine, senior vice chancellor and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, regarded Dr. Bahnson as the "quintessential academic physician — master clinician, passionate teacher, profoundly committed to the scientific basis of medicine, and a person of infectious humanism, scholarship and integrity." "He was the very soul of our institution, and one of the country's most important medical leaders. Without Hank, this school never would have achieved its current international status," Levine said. Despite the demands of his medical profession, Dr. Bahnson made time to spend with his wife, who died in 2001, and children. "We took cross-country trips, we skied, we climbed mountains and sailed," said Blalock Bahnson. "Dad raised bees, maintained a small apple orchard and made his own wine." Dr. Bahnson is survived by his sons, Dr. David Bahnson, of Mendon, Vt., and Dr. A. Blalock Bahnson, of Ross Township; daughters, Suzanne Bahnson Kahley, of Fox Chapel, and Barbara Bahnson, of Indiana Township; and six grandchildren. He was predeceased by a son, Ted Bahnson. The family will receive friends from 2 to 5 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Bahnson home, 612 Dorseyville Road, Fox Chapel. Plans for a memorial for Dr. Bahnson have not been finalized.

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