Paul Francis Lachiewicz July 16, 1951 - May 5, 2024
Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Paul F. Lachiewicz, MD, aged 72 passed away after a full and productive life on 5 May 2024. He was born in New York City to the late Frank and Helen Lachiewicz. He attended St Thomas the Apostle Elementary and Archbishop Molloy High in Queens, NY. He earned a BS at Manhattan College and his MD at Cornell Medical College. There he met the love of his life, Ave Maria, at an old fashioned “mixer” in the school gym. He was introduced to orthopaedic surgeons at the Hospital for Special Surgery, including mentors Drs. Eduardo Salvati and Chit Ranawat. Ave and Paul married in 1977 in NYC. After two years of residency training in general surgery at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, where Ave received her MD, they returned to NYC, with baby Jayne in tow. He completed his orthopaedic residency and a year of arthritis surgery fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery. The family, now including Anne, settled in Chapel Hill. He spent 26 years in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of North Carolina, passionate about patient care, education, and clinical research in total hip and knee replacement surgery, rising to Full Professor. He and Ave had three additional children, Mark, John, and Mary Claire. In 2009, he joined a private practice and later the Durham VA Medical Center and a Consulting Professor at Duke University’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. His academic career included over 200 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, numerous national and international presentations, and invited memberships in the Hip Society, Knee Society, and International Hip Society. He enjoyed lecturing with his travels to New Zealand, Mumbai, and numerous trips to London. He was honored to explore his Polish ancestry in 2019, as an invited professor at the 10th Knee meeting in Krakow.
He was involved in his children’s education and sports: including serving as a parent rep for their summer league swim team. He took the children on trips to the mountains for skiing and hiking and to Yellowstone/ Grand Teton in Wyoming. He introduced Ave and the children to his love of scuba diving in Cozumel and the NC coast. Mary Claire spurred his interest in triathlon at the age of 58; he completed numerous races over 14 years. He enjoyed the outdoors in Colorado, climbed more than ten 14ers, summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro, and completed a R2R2R on his first visit to the Grand Canyon. He and Ave celebrated their faith with travel to Israel, Fatima, Lourdes, Barcelona, and Italy. He took his mother Helen in her 80s for a tour of Rome, culminating with an audience with Pope Saint John Paul II. He and Ave loved visiting their children and 11 grandchildren, especially at NC beach gatherings.
He was a St Thomas More Catholic Church member for over 40 years, serving as an Eucharistic minister as well as member and chair of the Pastoral Council (signing the mortgage for the new church), and taught Confirmation class, with Ave, for seven years. Later, he encouraged his grandchildren to attend Sunday school and to receive the sacraments.
Paul is survived by his wife of 46 years, Ave; and their children, Jayne (Naz), grandchildren Ava, Bond, and Ella; Anne (Otis), grandchildren Lucas and Lily; Mark (Heather), grandchildren Jack, James, and Jacob; John (Charissa), grandchildren Hazel, Teddy, and Felix; and daughter Mary Claire. He was the second of four children, survived by Thomasine Roberts, Joanne Baschinsky, and Dr. Peter Lachiewicz.
Paul wants us to know that he loved his family dearly, and he asks that they take care of each other.
In lieu of flowers, his family asks for donations to the Paul Lachiewicz Award at UNC School of Medicine https://give.unc.edu/gift/orth, the Drs. Paul and Ave Maria Lachiewicz Scholarship Fund at Weill Cornell Medicine at https://give.weill. cornell.edu/, or STM Catholic Church’s general fund https://secure.myvanco.com/ YGJD/home.
The Lachiewicz family is under the care of the Hall-Wynne Funeral Service where a viewing will be held on 16 May from 6-8 pm. A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at STM Catholic Church on 17 May at 2:30 pm.