Milton Alexander Wohl, surgeon, hobbyist

Milton Alexander Wohl had a message for those attending his funeral.

Don't smoke.

He had specifically requested that the rabbi say "Don't smoke" during the service. And the rabbi agreed.

"People were kind of shocked," Joan Wohl, Dr. Wohl's wife of 63 years, said. "But that was how strongly he felt."

Dr. Wohl, 90, of Center City, died Monday, April 20, after a battle with bladder cancer at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He had been a smoker and wanted people to know that smoking is directly related to bladder cancer.

He was also a lifelong physician and a Renaissance man, with interests in fishing, farming, classical music, and 18th-century American history, to name a few areas.

Dr. Wohl worked in the division of orthopedic surgery at Albert Einstein Medical Center for more than 40 years. He had served as chairman of the department and led the residency program, training a new generation of doctors.

Born in Omaha, Neb., Dr. Wohl also lived in Vienna, Austria, when he was younger. He spent most of his life in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

He went to Central High School, Swarthmore College, and Temple University.

His career path as a doctor seemed predetermined. Dr. Wohl's father, mother, and two brothers all practiced medicine.

He also served as the president of the Philadelphia County Medical Society and the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Society.

More than his titles, though, his family emphasized his warmth and mentorship.

"Uncle Milt," as he was called by children of family friends, always took the time to listen and give advice to anyone who needed it, said Debbie Wohl Isard, his daughter.

"He treated all these young people like they were his own children," she added.

David Rubenstein, an orthopedic surgeon at the Rothman Institute who worked as a resident under Dr. Wohl, agreed. Though Dr. Wohl, or "Chief," as he was called by his residents at Albert Einstein, had a very "gruff" exterior, Rubenstein said, "you knew he loved you."

The first time Rubenstein met him as a medical student, Dr. Wohl "came down in this white pressed coat," looking "very intimidating." At that meeting, Rubenstein held a patient's arm while Dr. Wohl put on a cast. Rubenstein thought he was doing a "perfect job," but Dr. Wohl apparently didn't think so, adjusting the patient's arm several times throughout the process.

Despite that first impression, Rubenstein became a resident under Dr. Wohl's guidance two years later.

"I think in the back of his mind, he did think I was good," Rubenstein said. He was just being "old school."

Joan Wohl said her husband was an active and curious man. For 46 years, Dr. Wohl and his family kept a farm in Schwenksville, where he planted vegetables and did such farmwork as mowing and driving a tractor.

His energy extended into the intellectual sphere as well, as he kept a medical journal or a history book at his beside - his "light reading," Joan Wohl said.

Dr. Wohl was an avid collector of maps, books, pictures, and documents from the early period of U.S. history. One of the items from the Wohls' private collection - a book of rare prints of Philadelphia - is now at Thomas Jefferson's Virginia house-turned-museum, Monticello.

Dr. Wohl and his wife also traveled often, including trips to Russia and Quebec. Before his death, they had been planning a trip to the Great Lakes.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Dr. Wohl is survived by sons Daniel Wohl and David Wohl and five grandchildren.

A service was held Wednesday at Congregation Adath Jeshurun.

Donations in his memory may be made to the Milton A. Wohl M.D. Scholarship Fund c/o Temple University School of Medicine, Institutional Advancement, 3500 N. Broad St., Suite 1101, Philadelphia 19140; Camp Ramah in the Poconos, 2100 Arch St., Philadelphia 19103; or a charity of the donor's choice.