Jay A. Desjardins, 84, physician

Jay A. Desjardins, 84, formerly of Havertown, a retired internist, died of pneumonia Sunday, Nov. 23, at Barclay Friends in West Chester.

Dr. Desjardins practiced internal medicine for 35 years in Havertown, and was an attending physician at Fitzgerald Mercy, Riddle Memorial, and Delaware County Memorial Hospitals.

His family said he was a respected doctor at a time when diagnostic imaging and laboratory studies were unavailable, and when health care was very personal.

"It was Jay's opinion that a skilled physician should be able to arrive at a diagnosis through listening to the patient's history and his own careful clinical examination," his family said. "He was a gifted diagnostician whose patients adored him for his compassion and sincere concern. Generations of resident physicians were the beneficiaries of his teaching skills."

Dr. Desjardins was honored in 2012 by Mercy Catholic Medical Center for 50 years of devoted service.

Born in Philadelphia in 1930, he spent his childhood in Millville, N.J. Dr. Desjardins returned to the Philadelphia area and graduated from Upper Darby High School in 1947, the University of Pennsylvania in 1951, and from Penn's School of Medicine in 1955.

He met Norma Adelizzi right before his college graduation, when the two attended the wedding of a high school classmate.

Dr. Desjardins said it was a "spur of the moment decision" to attend the wedding. At his mother's suggestion, he walked Adelizzi's home. They married in 1954 and celebrated 60 years of marriage in August.

Dr. Desjardins served an internship in internal medicine at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital in Darby from 1955 to 1956.

From 1956 to 1962, he served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy Medical Corps. First, he was assigned to the Naval Base in Philadelphia and later to Charleston, S.C. In 1962, the family returned to the Philadelphia area.

Dr. Desjardins had many interests. An early one was scouting; he attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 1944.

"Of all of his achievements, this is the one of which he was most proud," his family said.

He was a master chess player and a gifted woodworker who spent his retirement years filling the homes of his children with his creations.

A vocabulary aficionado, he read the dictionary from A to Z, chose his words precisely in daily conversation, and passed on his love of language to his children.

Dr. Desjardins read widely, but he had a passion for history and historical fiction. He taught himself to play the piano by ear. He could fix anything, his family said.

He was a longtime member of the Llanerch Country Club.

Surviving, besides his wife, are daughters Paula Strauss, Christine Emery, and Marilyn Hauser; sons Jay A. and Stephen P.; nine grandchildren; and a sister. A brother died earlier.

Funeral services were Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Contributions may be made to Barclay Friends Nursing Home, 700 N. Franklin St., West Chester, Pa. 19380, or the Alzheimer's Association, 399 Market St., Suite 102, Philadelphia 19106.