In Memory of Dr. Koop

on February 27, 2013
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The Nation Bids Farewell to Dr. C. Everett Koop

Thank you to everyone who has shared their warm comments and memories of Dr. Koop. Click here to add your note.
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 My first meeting with Chick Koop was a chance encounter in 1963 at a College of Surgeons meeting in Washington, D.C.  I was serving a 2 year service obligation at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, following general surgical training in Boston.  I had planned further subspecialty training in Boston, but the draft for the Korean War intervened.

My meeting with Dr. Koop was both a career and a life changer.  Chick took time to chat about my career plans and to describe the pediatric surgery training program he had developed in Philadelphia.  I had some inkling of his own accomplishments because I was previously aware that he was a "Medal of Honor" recipient from France and that he had been active and highly respected by pediatric surgeons in multiple European countries.  He offered me a fellowship with some federal funding, and he spent considerable time discussing possibilities for my future.  I had enjoyed career discussions with surgeons previously, but Chick Koop actually promised he would support my career development over the long term, and he kept that promise.  More than a great surgeon, Chick, for me, was really a great man and a great friend.

My shock study projects from Walter Reed were continued for one year at the University of Pennsylvania's surgical research lab, while waiting for the fellowship opening, and some of that lab experience was later incorporated into our clinical projects at CHOP.  I found Chick to be gifted both as a superb surgical artist and as a teacher.  I loved every minute of my experience under his tutelage, and I am ever grateful for his offer of a faculty position at CHOP and Penn following my fellowship.

I became the fifth member of the surgical team at CHOP when I joined the faculty in 1966, but over the next three years our numbers decreased to three.   Chick was very busy with multiple academic, community, and social projects, and he referred a lot of surgical cases my way.  I loved it.  My wife Beverly and I were fortunate to live near the Koops, and we grew in love and respect for Betty and Chick.  We also developed admiration, though our contact was limited, with the Koop children--Allen, Norman, David, and Betsy.  David's accidental death from a New Hampshire climbing accident in 1968 was a life-changing tragedy for all.

As time went on, Chick became more and more involved with national and international issues, both surgical and ethical.  He cared deeply about his religious and family life, and he challenged then current ideas about The Right to Live, The Right to Die, the title of one of his publications, and about abortion.  I didn't always agree with Chick's positions, but I always respected his courage in taking a stand for what he believed.

Chick's real strength of character was revealed in his later Surgeon General days.  When he took the lead in issues related to smoking, birth control, sex education, and AIDS treatment he was challenged by some for inconsistency with positions he had advocated before appointment.  I have always been inspired by his response to the effect that "I am Surgeon General representing all people of this country, not just a small group who happen to agree with my personal views."  He truly placed duty and obligation before self and personal interests, and I have always thought his response was magnificent.

Though he was a great clinical surgeon for children, I believe C. Everett Koop's lasting and unforgettable legacy relates to the many years that followed in his service to our nation's public health.  I believe it rare for anyone to remain as productive and to contribute as much Chick Koop did right through his 96 years.  We revere him, we love Chick and his family, and we will remember always his unique contribution to the health of our people and to all people.

With love and deep sympathy to Cora, Chick's wife and companion following Betty's death, and to the families of Norman, Allen, and Betsy,

Dale G. Johnson, M.D.
Professor Emeritus, Surgery and Pediatrics
University of Utah School of Medicine

It was a privilege to meet Dr. Koop in 2010. My condolences to his family and many friends.

Ben Hauschild
Forum for Collaborative HIV Research
Washington, DC
As a reporter who covered his tenure as Surgeon General and later, as a public relations counselor who worked with him on AIDS issues, I always had the utmost respect for Dr. Koop. He could always be counted on for honesty, integrity, candor and scientific reasoning -- especially in the face of political pressure. He was not only the nation's doctor, but the nation's umpire: he called them the way he saw them, no matter how unpopular the opinion. Dr. Koop's passing is a reminder of what we have missed since he left the glare of the public spotlight, and a clarion call to what the nation's doctor should be as we face the challenges of the future. Rest in peace, Dr. Koop!

Aaron Cohen
Dr. C. Everett Koop was best person (or thing) to come out of the very bleak Reagan administration. One of the few that should live forever.

Condolences, Chris

Chris Nelson
Loveland, Colorado
Dr. Koop, you should know that the bilateral inguinal herniorraphy still holds together after 51 years. My daily exercise routine includes 100 sit-ups. I only hope that a similar procedure done by another surgeon on my own then 2-month-old son will hold as long.
-- KHR

Kenneth Ryesky

Dr. Koop was a great influence on public health in the US and the world. His career as US Surgeon General was exemplary, and we all owe him a great deal. He was a kind and thoughtful man, and I appreciated it that he always treated me, a much more junior colleague, with respect. It was a pleasure to know him and to have an opportunity to work with him.

Steven N. Blair
University of South Carolina

Our family would like to extend our deepest condolences to the Koop family - Dr. Koop was a legendary public health physician and leader, and he will be greatly missed.

Alan Greenberg
GWU
Washington, DC

Chick Koop ultimately became a dear friend, but I first met him back in the 1980s, when I was a reporter at US News & World Report writing about HIV/AIDS, and he came to the magazine to have lunch with the top editors one day. He arrived in his crisp white Public Health Service uniform and instantly seemed in command. Randy Shilts's book, And the Band Played On, had recently been released, and at one point the subject of the book and its intense criticism of the US policy response to the AIDS epidemic came up. Koop demurred and said he hadn't read the book. "But you came off very well in it!" I said. "Well, I read those parts!" Koop replied, causing much laughter around the table. 

The episode was vintage Chick. As Dartmouth alumni, we went on to "bond" and to know each other well. Chick was a complicated person, as are we all. He was undeniably a hero in so many ways; a champion of the health needs of children; a brilliant and passionate surgeon; above all, a physician who cared for his "patients," whether they were the ones in front of him or the millions who would suffer if those who could make their lives better didn't act on that responsibility. He also had an ego and a drive to be heard, noticed and understood. We all deserve to be judged on what we do at our best to serve others, and on that score, Chick was incomparably committed and brave, risking intense opprobrium to do what he knew was right for the public's health. I and so many others are grateful to have known him, humbled by his example, and inspired to carry on his memory to advance the public's health.

Susan Dentzer
Health Affairs
Chevy Chase, MD, USA
How blessed we all have been to have had Dr. Koop as our Surgeon General but also as a model health professional filled with compassion and commitment to advancing the health of all Americans. When I think of Dr. Koop a big smile comes across my face because I see a man of utmost integrity, conviction, principles, and a true champion of "our right to know" about how to protect our health. All scientists have great admiration for Dr. Koop in his dedication to listening to what science says, even if the message may offend people. A person like Dr. Koop comes once a generation. We are most grateful to him for the many ways he touched so many lives. I feel fortunate to have gotten to know him when Jeanne White Ginder (Ryan White's mother) and I presented him in 2010 the Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award, an award from the Indiana University Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention. Following the award, RCAP was able to raise private funding to support, for in perpetuity, the Surgeon General C. Everett Koop HIV/AIDS Research grant for doctoral student research in HIV/AIDS prevention. Thanks, Dr. Koop, for your courageous conviction to the promotion of the health of all Americans. You are a "man of ages."

-Bill Yarber
Senior Director
Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention
Dr. Koop was an inspiration to me and my decision to attend medical school. During my high school years when he was the surgeon general, I admired his honesty and courage to speak the truth. It was a great honor to meet him personally and have my picture taken with him in 2010. Public servents should look to him as an example in leadership.

Michael Harbour
Palo Alto, CA
I was young when Dr. Koop mailed information to every household in America, but that really caught my attention. Years later I was working in the HIV/AIDS Prevention efforts in a tri-state area. I am thankful for his bravery. His gesture made us all stop...and take a look. What a legacy. May you take solace in knowing he used his life achievements to educate others and save lives for generations to come.

Stephanie Fisher
Grand Chain, IL
Dr. Koop set the bar on how our national government should and must respond to the needs of America's communities and citizens. His last public appearance before the HIV community was an example of his commitment to sharing his ideals about how to achieve and maintain the health of our nation.

Marsha Martin
Urban Coalition for HIV/Prevention Services
Dr. Koop will long be remembered for his deeply inspiring leadership.

Cornelius Baker

On behalf of the Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service and the PHS Commissioned Officers Foundation, please accept our heartfelt condolences at this most difficult time. All PHS officers mourn the loss of the 13th Surgeon General who meant so much to the Corps.

Doctor Koop will be remembered for many contributions to the health of the nation but surely his most enduring legacies will be the hundreds of thousands of lives he lengthened and saved by his courageous stands on tobacco use and HIV/AIDs, as well as his leadership of and continuing support for the PHS Commissioned Corps he loved so dearly.

While many organizations will carry on the important work of Dr. Koop, his most visible legacy will be carried out by the uniformed officers of the PHS Commissioned Corps.  Dr. Koop's integrity, fearless commitment to speak truth to power, and dedication to the well-being of the Corps he led stand as permanent lesson on officership and leadership.

This association and foundation will sadly but proudly transition the Dr. C. Everett Koop Honorary Lecture to the first Dr. C. Everett Koop Memorial Lecture to be delivered by the 17th Surgeon General, Dr. Rich Carmona on May 21st at the PHS Scientific and Training Symposium.  We will miss the wise counsel provided by Dr. Koop in his capacity as an Honorary Trustee of the foundation.

The Commissioned Officers Association and Foundation stand ready to assist in any way possible to honor Dr. Koop's memory and sustain his legacy of service to Corps and country.

Sincerely,

Jerry Farrell
Executive Director
COA/COF

A true giant in the field of public health, Dr. Koop was one of the last public servants to have the courage to speak truth to power (including to the President who appointed him).  His extraordinary impact on the health of the public derived from his remarkably effective use of a single resource, nearly costless to the public:  the bully pulpit of his office.

Like Stan, I had the privilege of giving the Koop Lecture at the Dartmouth Medical School a couple of years ago.  Dr. Koop was still strong enough then to attend a dinner and the lecture (and indeed to introduce me), and he was vitally interested in (and disturbed by) the affairs of the day.  At his home I had the opportunity to get to know Cora a bit.  What is missing from this conversation about Dr. Koop is what an angel she has been during Dr. Koop's final years. Thank you, Cora, for bringing so much joy and comfort to Chick in his final years.

Kenneth E. Warner
University of Michigan School of Public Health
My deep admiration of Dr. Koop comes from my own personal experience standing up to specious claims of dietary supplement safety that led to serious injuries and death. Dr. Koop's outspoken advocacy for people's health, no matter what the political and personal cost, was an inspiration for those who followed like myself.

Steve Heymsfield, MD
Executive Director
Pennington Biomedical

I can think of no other Surgeon General who was more admired for serving as an advocate for individual health and well-being.

Nancy Price

We have posted a tribute to Dr. Koop on the Shape Up America! website (www.shapeup.org) and embedded in the tribute is a link to a photo album for his 95th birthday party that was held at the Koshland Science Museum in Washington DC in 2011.  Those of us in the field of obesity have Dr. Koop to thank for his remarkable leadership in raising awareness of obesity as a health issue.  He founded Shape Up America! in 1994, well before the public health community recognized the urgency of the problem.  I post this message to you with a heavy heart, but viewing the photo album is cheering.  Here is the link:
http://www.shapeup.org/about/gallery_cekbday.html

Barbara Moore, PhD, FTOS
President and CEO, Shape Up America!
Clyde Part, MT

Indeed, a sad passing of a public health hero. In the earliest and darkest days of AIDS in America, Surgeon General Koop held a town hall meeting in the main lobby of San Francisco General. I will never forget his powerful voice of compassion, common sense, and courage. He inspired all of us to step up and do the hard things that needed to be done, and to advocate strongly for the only prevention tools we had at our disposal in that era.

He had a powerful impact on so many dimensions of health, but to me it was his life-long advocacy for the social justice of health equity that stands strongest - in his words, "I am the Surgeon General of the heterosexuals and the homosexuals, of the young and the old, of the moral and the immoral, the married and the unmarried. I don't have the luxury of deciding which side I want to be on."
My thoughts and prayers are with the Koop family and all who are touched by his passing.

Sincerely,
Julie Gerberding

Julie Gerberding, MD MPH
former Director CDC

I had the great honor of meeting Dr. Koop in 2010, as part of the 2010 National Summit on HIV Diagnosis, Prevention and Access to Care.

On paper, its easy to see how Dr. Koop has touched the American public and improved public health. However, it wasn't until I heard others speaking with him about how he had personally changed their lives. One attendee at the Summit leaned in to tell Dr. Koop that he was the reason that this person wanted to become a doctor. Dr. Koop was his inspiration.

I feel honored that I was able to meet such a hero.

Jennifer Crawford
MSLGROUP
Washington, DC

It's important to appreciate how much courage Dr. Koop showed, both in the tobacco and the HIV arenas. He was willing to use evidence to tell the truth when no one else in leadership positions was. And to this day-decades later-no other surgeon general has followed his lead. A tribute to him. Not the others.

Paul Volberding
UC San Francisco
San Francisco CA/U.S.

Dr. Koop was instrumental in my initiation to the HIV community. His inspired leadership marked the beginning of my 20+ years of service to the AIDS community. He lives on in the memory of all of us "older" AIDS activists!

Cori Yaeger
Ohio AIDS Coalition

I feel very blessed, honored, humbled and privileged to have known Dr. Koop.

For those of us lucky to have been students, residents, attending physicians, nurses, patients at Dartmouth or living in Hanover in the 1990s, our lives were forever touched by this great man.

From the time I was a dopey junior high school student and first saw his sturdy leadership and authority on the biggest public health issues of the day, I was inspired to grow up and become a doctor. Not that I could ever achieve an ounce of the achievements of Dr. Koop, but by witnessing the power of America's family doctor on the nation's health, I could dream of how in some small town through the caring hand of a primary care physician, maybe I could help to heal a few souls, perhaps even a few lives and live a life well lived. My image of medicine as a noble profession came from seeing Dr. Koop's impact on getting family and friends to stop smoking, eat right, get over their bigotry over homosexuality and care for the young men and women dying of AIDS and reach beyond our shores to promote tobacco control and public health in developing nations. So, inspired by Dr. Koop, I studied hard and somehow scraped by getting into medical school.

When I was in medical school, I ranked the New Hampshire-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency Program first, in large part because I had read that Dr. Koop had returned there to start the C. Everett Koop Institute. So, if I could just shake his hand one time, I would come home one day inspired and ready to hang my shingle and live the rest of my days as a town doctor on Vashon Island, fueled by Koop's example, to make a difference in my own community. That would have been more than enough for me, but it became so much more.

Walking across the college green at Dartmouth Medical School, I came upon this towering man with a grey beard, bow tie, and spectacles and - I recall - he had the kindest eyes that reminded me of my own grandfather. As eminent as he was, he looked me right in the eye, smiled warmly and said "hello".

Me, a lowly intern in a white coat, why? What happened in the years that followed was beyond my imagination. If any wide-eyed student or resident had an idea for a public health project - no matter how idealistic or naive, as long as our hearts were in the right place and we had a passion for improving the health of our communities or the skills of our physicians, nurses or public health practitioners, Dr. Koop gave freely of his name, his credibility and his time. In recording studios in the icy New Hampshire winter recording public service announcements, sharing his rich archives of speeches and videos, writing letters to powerful senators, members of Congress and admissions committees and doing practically anything I had the guts to ask him to do. I happen to know that there were hundreds - if not thousands - of people with anecdotes like mine - some famous and eminent, many and probably most were average Joe's like me - from around the world; from his days as a pioneering surgeon to the Surgeon General to the great physician laureate of our time.

When approached by someone with an idea, he did not size up the person to figure out if he or she was worth his time. He sized up the cause. If a cause were worth fighting for, he would fight by your side. And fight he did. Like Winston Churchill, he "never gave in - except to convictions of honor and good sense". Like a great general returning to West Point to teach cadets who would one day fight battles in defense of freedom or Churchill returning to Harrow during the Blitz to inspire new graduates on their way to war, Dr. Koop returned to Dartmouth to train a different kind of army -- an army of kindred spirits armed with the fortitude and inspiration to take on the big public health perils of the future. He called them "Koop's troops".

What struck me about this great man was his humility. The Surgeon General with the biggest bully pulpit of all time never put on heirs when it came to the people he mentored or served. I once asked him what his principles of leadership were. I think I had expected a grandiose axiom of some kind from Voltaire or Aristotle. Rather, he said simply: "I just looked for the gaps and tried to fill them."

Why did he do it? Why did he care about the small fries as much as the big shots? Why did he say "yes" when asked to help?

He simply loved his fellow man and cherished the life of everyone. A man of faith, hope and charity in the broadest sense, my wife Shannon, my family, my friends and the world will miss him dearly. He appealed to all of our better angels and he is with the angels now.

Sean P. David, M.D., D.Phil.

Sean David
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA

I first met Dr. Koop in 1989 when he was still Surgeon General but planning to leave his post. I had the pleasure of taping him for a video tribute honoring his many contributions to public health. That began a 25-year relationship that is one of the highlights of my life. In 1994, Dr. Koop tapped me to help him launch his anti-obesity crusade Shape Up America! and as usual, he trailblazed by elevating obesity as a public health crisis. But one of my greatest honors was to help the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research create the C. Everett Koop HIV/AIDS Public Health Leadership Award and bestow the first award in 2010 to Dr. Koop. At that award ceremony, almost 500 community leaders and HIV/AIDS advocates from around the country cheered Dr. Koop and gave him a standing ovation that lasted for almost 10 minutes. It was a genuine love fest for a man that everyone in that room considered his or her personal hero. He was my hero and I will always cherish the role he played in my life.

Farewell, Dr. Koop. Your spirit lives on!

Nancy Glick
MSLGROUP
Washington, DC

I was a fellow at the NIH studying infectious diseases and treating AIDS patients at the time when Dr Koop was Surgeon General. His compassion, courage and leadership to provide awareness and education to all US citizens about HIV was an inspiration to me and many other health care professionals who were caring for patients stricken with this terrible disease. He is a perfect example of what a US Surgeon General and public health leader should be.

james rooney
Gilead Sciences

I want to thank Dr Koop for being one of the first major establisment figures who understood that HIV/AIDS was both just a disease and more than a disease. His courage and leadership were exemplary and much-needed. Thank you.

Donna Futterman, MD
Adolescent AIDS Program
Bronx, NY

For your bravery to tackle an issue that the world around you avoided, you have inspired us all in the field of HIV; you will be forever admired and sorely missed.

Rochelle Walensky
MGH/Harvard Medical School
Boston

Dr. Koop was an essential leader in the early and dark days of the AIDS epidemic. His clear voice and empathic vision saved many lives at a time when there was no effective treatment and no other senior governmental officials willing to address the burgeoning pandemic. He will be sorely missed.

Kenneth Mayer
Fenway Health/Harvard Medical School
Boston, Mass

Robert Besaw
Forum for Collaborative HIV Research

Dr. Koop was a great public health advocate who saw HIV coming before the rest of the world had a clue- and he took bold unprecedented actions to increase awareness and safety.  The "letter" was his signature action, but the totality of his contributions is incredible.  Most people I know when asked "who is the Surgeon General?" respond that it is Dr. Koop or they don't know. He is an example of courage and action like no other, and he did it under Pres Reagan.

John Bartlett
Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD

My condolences.

Erik Lontok
HIV Forum
Washington, DC

Joe Burrage
Indiana University School of Nursing
Indianapolis, IN

Dr. Koop's courageous stance on HIV/AIDS in an administration that for the longest time refused to acknowledge this devastating disease speaks to the caliber of his humanity.  The complex, chronic disease gained a lifelong champion in Dr. Koop. He will be missed.  My sincere condolences to Dr. Koop's family.

Nina Mani
Forum for Collaborative HIV Research

The example of his leadership, courage and commitment to his profession and calling will stand uniquely among the highest this nation has seen.

Veronica Miller
Forum for Collaboartive HIV Research
Washington, DC

During some of the darkest days of the epidemic and as part of an Administration that tacitly ignored the death and dying, Dr. Koop took a stand for public health.

Christine Lubinski
Washington, DC

It was such an honor and a real learning experience to be in the audience two years ago to hear Dr. Koop deliver his last academic address specifically describing his 8 years facing the HIV/AIDS epidemic under President Reagan.  His courage and tenacity both during that period of time of the epidemic and in delivering that academic address is something I will admire for the rest of my life.

With my sincerest condolences,
David W. Poole

David Poole