The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Tree planting honors Dr. James Brod
North Broad students assist in late Arbor Day celebration
ONEIDA>> Community commitment was so important to Dr. James Brod, it continues even after his death.
Fifth grade students from North Broad Elementary School gathered at Vets Field Tuesday to help plant a tree in honor of the late doctor, a Navy veteran and former orthopedic surgeon at Oneida Healthcare. Brod died on Dec. 31, 2015, at the age of 90.
“I think it’s an honor to have something like this done,” said John Brod, one of the doctor’s four children. “It’s a legacy for him. He’d be pleased. “Community type activities were important to my dad. I think he’d especially like the educational aspect of this.”
“I’m very honored to think that they want to do this, and I’m so proud of my husband for his life and example,” said his widow, Mary Ann Brod.
Every year, the city celebrates Arbor Day by having children from one of the city’s elementary schools help plant a tree. Since Arbor Day was during spring break this year, Recreation Department Director Luke Griff said the planting was postponed to Tuesday so the North Broad fifth graders could participate.
The kids learned about the history of Arbor Day and the city’s status as a Tree City USA-designated city. For the past 27 years, Dwight Davis of the Department of Public Works has helped keep that designation, planting hundreds of trees during his ca--
“This is a place they visit all summer long, so to have a part in unifying and doing something for the community made it more exciting for them.”
— Angie Styles, teacher
reer with the city. He impressed upon the North Broad students that trees can help connect the past to the future.
“I’ll probably never see this tree grow to its full height,” he noted, but years down the line, others in the city will benefit from him helping plant it on Tuesday.
“Trees are important and we can all be part of that future,” he said.
“This is a place they visit all summer long, so to have a part in unifying and doing something for the community made it more exciting for them,” said fifth grade teacher Angie Sayles.
All of the students were also given a white spruce tree cutting to take home to plant.
ing Pairingwith Brod’sthe tree memoryplant-made sense because of his commitment to the city, Mayor Leo Matzke said. Brod was the “cream of the crop” in terms of community servants, and a man Matzke called a “city son.” Over the weekend, a city-wide cleanup event was named in honor of Brod, and Matzke proclaimed April 29 through May 3 as James J. Brod Week.
Brod was born in New York City in 1925 and attended Dartmouth Medical School and McGill University in Montreal, where he graduated in 1951. He served in the U. S. Navy as a chief medical officer from 1954- 56 before beginning his orthopedic residency at the University of Pennsylvania. Brod also practicebeforein 1965. opened movingin Mainean orthopedicto Oneidain 1961
opened Once thein Oneida,city’s firsthe orthopedic practice at Oneida City Hospital, where he served as both chief of surgery and chief of staff. He ran that practice for 30 years.
Brod also served as assistant professor of clinical orthopedics at Upstate Medical Center.
For nearly 20 years Brod was team doctor for Oneida High School football.
Her organized medical relief missions to Nicaragua, was an active member of the Oneida’s Club and Rotary, and helped establish parks and other community projects in the greater Oneida area.
For students pursuing a medical career, there is also the Dr. James Brod Memorial Schol- arship Fund. To learn more about that, visit www.cnycf.org/ jamesbrod#. VykEyoSDGkp.