He was an ob/ gyn physician who ‘ treated the whole patient’
Dr. John Ammer delivered thousands of babies, taught countless students and had an incredible memory for detail.
“Even after he retired, we’d go out to dinner, and if we met former patients, he would remember them and ask what their kids were doing,” said his wife, retired psychiatrist Joan Ehler Ammer. “I never knew how he could do that and remember so many names.”
The longtime obstetrician/ gynecologist, 86, of Fox Chapel, died Saturday of complications from nonHodgkin’s lymphoma.
Dr. Ammer spent his early childhood in Ross, but the family moved when he was in fourth grade to Mercer, Pa., to farm.
“He was one of six boys, and it was during the Depression,” his wife said. “They had a dairy farm for many years.”
Dr. Ammer always aspired to be a doctor, and after graduating from Mercer High School in 1951, he attended The College of Wooster in Ohio, where he earned a chemistry degree in 1955.
He and his wife met as students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and married shortly after his graduation in May 1959.
They spent the next two years at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, where Dr. Ammer served as a captain in the Air Force medical corps while his wife pursued her residency.
The newlyweds also formed a lifelong passion for skiing in the nearby mountains, Dr. Ehler Ammer recalled.
“There was one little ski resort that we went to most weekends,” she said.
Dr. Ammer taught his daughter Joy Irwin to ski at age 4.
“We always spent our spring breaks out West skiing,” said Mrs. Irwin, of Lookout Mountain, Tenn.
After his military service, Dr. Ammer completed his residency at Magee- Womens Hospital and joined the staff at West Penn Hospital.
West Penn’s retired chief of oncology and hematology Dr. Jack Hill, who served for many years on the “Ask the Doctor” segment of KDKATV, remembered Dr. Ammer as a devoted colleague who wasn’t afraid to step into an unfamiliar role when asked.
“Although he was a practicing ob/ gyn, on two occasions he had to step in and chair the obstetrics department,” Dr. Hill said. “Not everybody can do that, but he did an excellent job.”
Dr. Ammer also served as an advocate for many of his patients, Dr. Hill said.
“If a woman had a complaint that wasn’t necessarily in his field, he always made sure they were cared for and he followed up,” Dr. Hill said. “He treated the whole patient.”
The two became friends and often golfed and socialized with their families, Dr. Hill remembered.
“He was a very personable, outgoing fellow and we did many things together,” he said. “He was a very competitive guy.”
In 1982, Dr. Ammer was part of a medical team that was credited with saving the life of a newborn with an innovative double surgery during the first five hours of the baby’s life to correct a congenital brain disorder.
Dr. Ammer, who wrote several published medical articles, also was actively involved in the residency program at West Penn and was honored in 1993 with the “Gold- Headed Cane Award,” from his students.
“He loved to teach residents and took great pleasure in it,” his wife said. “The residents voted for the award so he was very pleased.”
He retired reluctantly in 1999 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“He loved practicing, and he wouldn’t have retired if it hadn’t been for the cancer,” his wife said. “They gave him five years to live, but he beat it.”
His golden years afforded Dr. Ammer the opportunity to play more golf at his beloved Pittsburgh Field Club in Fox Chapel, and the freedom to travel with his wife to places like Portugal and Ireland.
“He was an addict for golf,” Dr. Ehler Ammer said, laughing.
New acquaintances were never strangers for long around Dr. Ammer, his family recalled.
“He loved people,” his wife said. “When we would go to the Field Club for dinner, I’d be walking out the door and he would still be talking to everybody on the way out. He would get your whole history of where you were raised, where you went to school, if he met you.”
“He was really inquisitive and curious,” his daughter said. “He would read the dictionary to learn new words.”
Dr. Hill said he would remember Dr. Ammer as a good friend and devoted practitioner.
“He always wanted to be his best and achieve the goal,” he said. “It was important to him.”
Along with his wife and daughter, Dr. Ammer is survived by two grandchildren and his brothers Robert Charles Ammer, of Lawrenceburg, Ind.; Raymond Leo Ammer, of Hermitage, Mercer County; Richard Joseph Ammer of Wauchula, Fla.; and James Edward Ammer of New Wilmington, Lawrence County.
He was preceded in death by his brother Otto Jacob Ammer.
Friends will be received at Weddell- Ajak Funeral Home, 100 Center Avenue, Aspinwall, on Thursday, from 4- 8 p. m., where a parting prayer will be held Friday at 9: 30 a. m., followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a. m. at St. Scholastica Church, Aspinwall, with a celebration of life following at the Pittsburgh Field Club.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: St. Margaret Foundation, 815 Freeport Road, 100 Medical Arts Building, Suite 112, Pittsburgh, PA 15215 or to Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley, 533 Linden Ave., New Kensington, PA 15068.