Memoir : Charles Howard Peck.

  • Charles Horace Mayo
Date:
1927
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Memoir : Charles Howard Peck. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Reprint from SURGERY, GYNECOLOGY AND OBSTETRICS July, 1927, pages 118-120 ROY MOODIE COLLECTION. MEMOIR—CHARLES HOWARD PECK Born June 18, 1870—Died March 28, 1927 By CHARLES H. MAYO, M.D., F.A.C.S., Rochester, Minnesota IT is with a sense of deepest personal loss not unmixed with sorrow that I record the passing of Dr. Charles Howard Peck, master surgeon, earnest patriot, distinguished teacher, benefactor of mankind, and my friend. An association of twenty years begun in the formative, youthful days of our earliest professional efforts and ripening into closest companionship, closed when he answered the final summons March 28, 1927. Such intimate acquaintance afforded abundant opportunities to observe and admire a many-sided character, beautiful in its simple faith, strong in its devo¬ tion to study, unyielding in its adherence to principle, superb in its fidelity to friends and professional contemporaries. A brilliant, full and varied career, brought to an untimely close at the height of its productiveness, cut down at the full tide of its usefulness, emphasizes how much service may be crowded into an all-too-brief period of existence. Few gave more than he in the short span of fifty-six years allotted to him; few accomplished so much in their chosen walk of life; and of few may it be more truly said, that those who knew him best loved him best. Appreciation is measured in superlative terms by friends, but in this instance, deservedly so, as is evidenced by the manifold tributes and expressions of sorrow among companions, acquaintances, and people of all walks of life. Of his many admirable qualities, the kindliness, charity, and benevolence of his friendship endeared him most, I think. The supreme happiness which he enjoyed in the companionship of his professional associates, and their confidence and appreci¬ ation of his talents, signify the high plane of ideals which governed his every action. Quiet, kindly, cheerful, without malice, zealous in any cause he espoused, earnest in the execution of his duties, he moved among his fellows, an example and inspiration to all. His unselfishness and self-sacrificing intent is nowhere better illustrated than by his distinguished war record. Actively engaged in teaching, and busy with a large private practice, his patriotism prompted him to join the colors immedi¬ ately upon the admission of the United States into the World War, and he served with credit and distinction throughout its course, in France, receiving merited