DCMS Member Obituaries - Summer 2009

In Memory of Dr. Jacob Green (1938-2009)

Jacob Green, MD, a DCMS Life Member, died April 8, 2009. Raised in New York City, he went south to the University of Alabama for his undergraduate education and also completed his MD degree at that university. Dr. Green did a surgical internship at the University of Alabama Hospital and then in 1963 entered the Army for two years as a medical officer where he received an Army Commendation medal for service as the doctor in charge of the Presidential Honor Guard in Washington, DC. Dr. Green completed a fellowship in neurology at the University Hospital of Alabama and a neurosurgical residency. He was Chief Resident and a teaching resident in neurology at the Medical College of South Carolina. In 1969 Dr. Green began his 40-year neurology practice career in Jacksonville. He was first Chief of Neurology at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Baptist Medical Center and Methodist Medical Center. In 1980 he earned a PhD in Health Care Management from Walden University. Dr. Green was a teacher, author and medical pioneer.

In Memory of Dr. Larry Birch (1924-2009)

Larry Harmon Birch, MD, a retired DCMS member, died May 7, 2009. Born in Chicago, IL, Dr. Birch served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, prior to obtaining his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. He completed an internship, residency and fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. He opened a cardiac catheterization laboratory in Grand Rapids, MI and after moving to Jacksonville, FL in 1969, Dr. Birch opened a laboratory at Baptist Memorial Hospital (now Baptist Health). He directed the laboratory for a decade and then entered private practice in cardiology. During his years in the Navy, Dr. Birch received the Victory Medal, the American Theatre Medal and the Asiatic Pacific Medal. He was  a 37-year sustaining Paul Harris Fellow Rotary Club member, Vice President of the American Heart Association and a member of the American College of Cardiology. An avid amateur pilot, Dr. Birch was also somewhat of an inventor since he was part of a team that was instrumental in developing the prototype for the external cardiac resuscitator.