I am very proud and honored to be able to pay a tribute to

Virginia, and to share with you some of my own memories, as well as

some from her closest friends.

Virginia Apgar is one of the most remarkable people I have ever

With her, life was exciting; her youthful enthusiasm and energy

    She was warm and compassionate, and at the same time

known.

were boundless.

had a great sense of humor, sometimes earthy.

she was utterly sincere and honest and could not tolerate any form of

deception.

She was loyal and generous, always dependable, and ready to help those

in crisis.  And despite her many talents and achievements, she had great

humility.  All these qualities, and many more, together with her magnetism

and charm, contributed to

Integrity was her hallmark:

Her approach was forthright, direct, realistic and practical.

her greatness as a physician, teacher and friend.

Virginia was a student until the day she died.

Learning was the

focal point of her life.

held a continuing fascination for her.

information, and to modify or change her ideas accordingly.

became rigid.

without becoming walled in by tradition or custom.

vital.

under the George Washington Bridge.

Her curiosity was insatiable, and new knowledge

She was always ready to accept new

She never

This rare quality enabled her to progress through life,

                    It kept her young and

She started flying lessons a few years ago - and even wanted to fly

As a physician, Virginia inspired complete trust.

One of her

inflexible rules was to visit, and carefully examine the patient she was to

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anesthetize, the day prior to surgery.

radiating confidence, gentleness and concern, as well as good humor; and

she always had a little joke.

an air of optimism, and relieved anxiety; the worst problems became less

serious.

her.

This, she never failed to do -

Her realistic and practical approach created

She even made them seem routine.

The patients never forgot

She was available for anesthesia 24 hours a day.

Although scrupulously honest, she was not above a little deceit if

it was for the patient's welfare.  At a time when certain surgeons insisted

that ether was the only anesthetic, she would quietly and comfortably put

the patient to sleep with someaher agent;

frequently would be dropped on the drapes near the surgeon, who would

murmur his approval.

or visitors at hand, in her reverberating stage whisper, exactly what she was

doing and why.

but ether was close at hand and

At the same time she would explain to any students

As a teacher her effervescent personality engulfed you.

She was one

1

person the medi cal students nerverforgot.

could talk about any part of the body without embarrassment.

impossible to shock her; but at the same time she would throw in a little

shock factor, or a funny situation to emphasize a point.

learned about the caudal canal by feeling her coccyx, which had an unusual

angle.

looking for Dr. Apgar's pelvis, part of an old and much used skeleton upon

which she demonstrated regional anesthesia.  To a rather startled Australian

She was quite uninhibited, and

It was

Most of the students

Not infrequently, a resident would come into the office or laboratory

-3-

gentleman, she jokingly offered to demonstrate the technique of paracervical

block on herself, when the skeleton could not be found.

One of the few things she could not do was talk slowly.

Translators

found her impossible.

breathing.  After a talk to several hundred physicians at an international

meeting, it was later apparent that many had not understood a word; but

they were enraptured and loved it.

was not what. she said, but how she said it.

Some people believed she had another hole for

Somehow they got the message.

It

She taught to do what is right and to do it now.

This could even

be her motto.  In any emergency, whether in the hospital, on the sidewalk ,

the highway, or in chureh, she was the first one to help -- with her airway,

laryngoscope and even a pocket knife, which were always in her purse.

She was fearless and refused to be bound by convention or legal tradition.

Before the "Good Samaritan Law", and when students were literally being

taught to protect their own welfare before treating a patient, she was out-

spokenly teaching the opposite.

save her own skin.

idealism was lost, everything else would die on the vine.

Virginia never considered herself or tried to

She personified idealism, and firmly believed that once

In order to learn, it was essential to seek the truth and to be able

to admit error.

deaths in infants, at a time when any wrongdoing was usually denied.

examined every possible cause, and admitted every mistake.

The first lecture I ever heard her give was on anesthetic

Virginia

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During her training period as a surgical resident, one of her

                          Virginia

patients developed post-operative complications and died.

worried and worried that she might have clamped a small, but essential

artery.

the morgue and opened the operative incision to find the cause.

small artery had been clamped.

No autopsy permit could be obtained.

So she secretly went to

That

She immediately told the surgeon.

She

never tried to cover a mistake.

what the cost.

She had to know the truth no matter

Her honesty and humility together, enabled her to point out

mistakes to students or residents, without offending them.

disarming, and would sit down with a warm smile saying, "Tell Momma all

about it."

She was completely

She had an extraordinary ability to get the best out of people

without antagonizing them.

As an investigator, Virginia was completely dedicated to seeking

out new information that would improve the quality of life. Failure to do

this, was to her, almost immoral.

a sense of excitement; and in some way, she made what you were doing seem

When Virginia was there, there was

important.

Old and new ideas were constantly re-examined with objectivity.

One of her favorite anesthetic agents for delivery was cyclopropane, which

she firmly believed to be completely safe and harmless for the inbnt.  When

her research fellows found that infants born under cyclopropane were slightly,

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but significantly more depressed, compared to other infants, she was

horrified.

question, and immediately announced at luncheon -- "There goes my

favorite gas" .

After looking at the data, she accepted the verdict without

She had an extraordinary ability, to ferret out the essentials,

and cut into the core of a problem.

the umbilical artery in a newborn infant, and undoubtedly the whole area

of newborn intensive care would not be where it is today, were it not

for Virginia.

She was thefirst person to catheterize

She encouraged constantly, and if she believed in your ability,

\

you just had to do it.

   Virginia had countless friends al

who loved her, she was their special fr

than a friend - she was an inspiration.

People found her irresistible.  She coul

her victim was immediately captivated.

over the world, and to everyone

   To most of us she was more

She had something for everybody.

end.

I establish an instant rapport, and

She was completely without prejudice,

be it race, sex, color, age, or position.

to little details were unforgettable.

memory for names and faces.

test, I presented one of her medical school classmates to her unexpectedly,

and with no-introduction.

in size, and had acquired glasses.                        This

was the only time I remember her being furious with me, and I was informed,

"Never do that to me again, young man!"

Her thoughtfulness and attention

One of her talents was an uncanny

            Once, as a

She hated to forget anyone.

In 40 years he had become grey, somewhat increased

   Virginia could not guess his name.

And I never did.

-6-

She did everything with gusto.

Everything about her was

accelerated -- speech, walking and thought, and she gave all she had,

even when very ill and dying.

There was no such thing as half measure.

She was very competitive and loved to win, but only if up against someone

who was a real challenge -- scrabble - cribbage - tennis.

to play tennis like a man and played well.

her game was, she was told, "Quite good for a girl".

She was taught

Asking a young friend how good

"What do you mean? -

If you're good, you're good."

How she loved a challenge.

And she was a

gracious loser.

She loved simple things such as fishing and gardening, even weeding -

in fact she loved to get covered with mud.

and would chop wood all day in order to sit by the fire at night.

She particularly loved fires,

She also loved music and was never happier than when playing

i

chamber music with friends.

How many people she introduced into this

special world !

There were very few things that she disliked, but these included

administration and red tape.

She also abhorred intensely any form of scheming

or subterfuge.

These were beyond her.

She also hated to cook.

           Most food got well done - frequently

Some people thought she liked burned food - and others were

burned.

certain she loved burned pots.

She had unswerving loyalty and rallied to those with insurmountable

problems, with strength and understanding.

In contrast, I never remember

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her ever complaining, about any problem she might have had.

She hated

sympathy, and could not bear being incapacitated.

friends from visiting her in the hospital, when she was really ill.

   She was completely devoid of vanity and conceit.

She forbade her closest

                            Her modesty

and humility were just natural qualities, that pervaded every aspect of

her being and her life.

Unbeknown to many of her medical friends, she was deeply

religious.

religion of action - of doing good on earth.

was - "Take My Life and Let It Be, Consecrated Lord to Thee".

her outgoing characteristics, she had an elusive quality.

in something bigger than self, and was part of her natural missionary spirit.

Her religion was idealistic, rather than spiritual.

It was a

Her favorite hymn appropriately

With all

It was a belief