Medicine

Dr. William Demuth, early member of the Department of Surgery, passes away

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Dr. William E. DeMuth Jr., 94, of Carlisle, passed away on Friday, Sept. 11, at Cumberland Crossings in Carlisle. He joined the faculty at the Penn State College of Medicine as a clinical professor of surgery in 1971.

DeMuth worked at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center for 12 years and held a variety of roles, including professor of surgery and assistant dean for continuing education. He retired from the organization as professor emeritus.

He had a long and distinguished career in surgery and authored more than 100 medical publications.

DeMuth graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 1943 with a degree in biology and was a 1946 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He then completed his surgical residency at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. J Stanley Smith reflected on Demuth’s vision: “Bill was an early and influential advocate of a state trauma system and developing trauma centers here in the mid-state. He was chair of the PA Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons. He was a facile and skillful surgeon and loved to mentor young surgeons like me.”

Throughout his life he was known for his storytelling and love of hunting and the outdoors.

“In addition to his general surgical duties, Bill molded his surgical interests with his love of the outdoors,” said Dr. William Pierce. “Along with the late Bill Park, professor of mechanical engineering, he studied projectile velocities from rotary lawnmower blades, and the relationship between muzzle velocity and tissue damage. Each day at noon, the first staff through the cafeteria line got to sit at Bill’s table and hear him spin yarns about early surgery, and hunting the ‘big one.’”

Celebration of life services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, at Second Presbyterian Church, 528 Garland Drive in Carlisle. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Second Presbyterian Church, Generations Fund, 528 Garland Drive, Carlisle, PA 17013.

Dr. William E. DeMuth Jr. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated September 17, 2015