Peter Randall, 91; pioneering plastic surgeon

Peter Randall, 91, of Chestnut Hill, an innovator in the field of cleft palate surgery who brought his skills to patients in Philadelphia and abroad, died Sunday, Nov. 16, of a stroke at Foulkeways at Gwynedd, where he had lived for 15 years.

Dr. Randall was chairman of the department of plastic surgery at both the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

According to a history of Penn's plastic surgery program, the field developed because of the need to treat soldiers suffering from battlefield wounds and burns in the wake of the two world wars.

Robert H. Ivy and, later, Henry P. Royster were in the forefront of the effort in Philadelphia to establish reconstructive surgery as a medical specialty.

In 1953, Dr. Randall joined Royster in creating a robust plastic surgery residency training program at the Penn hospital and Children's.

In its first year, 1957, the two-year program trained only one resident. But the program grew quickly. Dr. Randall became chief of Penn's plastic surgery division in 1979, followed eight years later by Linton A. Whitaker.

"As a teacher, Peter was patient, thoughtful, and always considerate and kind," Whitaker said. "He was an extremely important individual in the history of cleft lip and palate surgery. His technique for lip repair set the standard for years and is still used."

Born in Chestnut Hill, Dr. Randall graduated from William Penn Charter School, Princeton University in 1944, and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1946.

After serving a residency and a tour of duty in the Navy, Dr. Randall received a fellowship to study plastic surgery at Washington University in St. Louis.

He returned to Philadelphia, where he began research on the repair and reconstruction of facial deformities, especially cleft lips and palates.

He traveled the world training doctors and nurses in how to perform reconstructive surgery. In India, he operated on lepers to restore the use of their hands. He volunteered in Vietnam during the war to teach local surgeons how to perform skin grafts on burn patients.

"Peter loved his work, and he loved to teach. He was driven by a deep faith and compassion to help his fellow man," his family said in a tribute.

Through several tours of duty with Operation Smile, Dr. Randall and his wife, Rose Johnson "Posey" Randall, traveled with multidisciplinary medical teams to China, Israel, Vietnam, and India to help cleft lip and palate patients. His work changed the lives of thousands of foreign patients, his family said.

He was past president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Cleft Palate Association, and the Robert H. Ivy Society of Plastic Surgeons, and a member of the American College of Surgeons.

Outside the operating room, Dr. Randall was cheerful and gentle, his family said. He was an enthusiastic singer, gardener, birder, and sailor.

Surviving, besides his wife of 66 years, are daughters Deborah, Julia Sharpe, and Susanna; a son, Peter G.; six grandchildren; and a sister.

A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 22 E. Chestnut Hill Ave., Philadelphia 19118.

Contributions may be made to the church or the Cleft Palate Program of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia 19104.