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Francis H. Sterling, 80, endocrinologist and professor

Francis H. Sterling, 80, of Havertown, a respected endocrinologist, brilliant lecturer, and passionate operagoer, died Sunday, Jan. 18, at Lankenau Hospital of a tear in the aortic artery.

Francis H. Sterling
Francis H. SterlingRead more

Francis H. Sterling, 80, of Havertown, a respected endocrinologist, brilliant lecturer, and passionate operagoer, died Sunday, Jan. 18, at Lankenau Hospital of a tear in the aortic artery.

An Atlantic City native, Dr. Sterling graduated from West Catholic High School for Boys, La Salle College, and Jefferson Medical College. He served in the Army Medical Corps and was honorably discharged with the rank of major.

He served an internship at Misericordia Hospital before joining the staff at the Veterans Administration Hospital, and was part of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

He rose to full professor at Penn and taught for more than two decades before retiring on Jan. 1, 1997, with the title of professor emeritus.

Dr. Sterling was "thoroughly appreciated and loved for his dedication to his patients and students," wrote Penn colleague Mary Dratman.

The residents often canceled other assignments to sit in while Dr. Sterling was seeing patients. He traveled widely to give invited lectures to medical students at various universities.

Patients sought him out, and the list of those awaiting treatment was long. He was devoted to his patients, and when he lost one, he attended the funeral, Dratman said.

His teaching was never cute or clever, Dratman said; it was brilliant.

"He had an extraordinary gift for combining basic science and bedside wisdom on rounds and in his formal lecturing. In an era when not a few medical students used recording instruments as proxies for their attendance at lectures, those lectures he gave were standing-room only.

"I've rarely seen students stand up and clap at the end of a lecture, but he invariably left the hall to the sound of his students' applause," Dratman said.

His other passion was opera. He attended performances at the Metropolitan Opera each week in New York City. Dr. Sterling learned Italian so he could follow the libretto, and visited Italy.

"He was known to many of the star performers, with whom he met and corresponded," Dratman said.

Dr. Sterling is survived by nieces Katherine and Margaret Strohlein and Maria Manning, and a friend and neighbor, Lenore Rosenberg.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, at the Church of St. Francis Xavier-the Oratory, 2319 Green St. A visitation starts at 9 a.m. Burial is in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple Township.