When Dr. Willard Kerman turned 65 in 1980 and closed his longtime North Shore pediatric practice, he was touched by the scores of letters he received from former patients and parents.
“If anyone had told my dad at that point he could sign a contract granting him 25 more productive years, he’d have taken it in a minute,” his son Mark said.
Dr. Kerman, 91, a beloved caregiver, medical school instructor and former Glencoe School Board president, died Friday, June 16, of complications from heart disease in San Diego.
Born in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, Dr. Kerman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
Unable to find suitable office space on the North Shore in 1946, he opened his first practice in a Glencoe bank building, where he initially shared a suite with a seamstress. He eventually moved the practice to the Ravinia section of Highland Park.
During 34 years of practice, Dr. Kerman developed long-lasting relationships with thousands of families, said his son. “He really liked the fact that when many of his patients grew up, they brought their own children to him. Several former patients and parents continued to correspond with him.”
Like other pediatricians of his era, Dr. Kerman made house calls–as many as 1,600 per year by his own reckoning. He was not, however, an advocate of the practice. “You can’t believe how trivial the reasons for house calls were,” he told the Glencoe News upon his retirement.
“He also thought that patients’ houses were too dimly lit to conduct effective examinations,” said his son. “He thought if a child was really sick, he should go to the emergency room.”
Dr. Kerman married his wife, Sylvia, in 1953. They settled in Glencoe, where he served on the village caucus and as school board president.
“He thought that being involved in the community and the schools was part of being a good parent,” said his son. Dr. Kerman also served on the advisory board that introduced sex education into the Glencoe schools curriculum.
After retiring Dr. Kerman moved with his wife to La Jolla, Calif.
“It was a big step for them because they weren’t risk takers, but they didn’t like the winters in Chicago,” said his son.
In 1977, Dr. Kerman had begun teaching prospective pediatricians at Chicago Medical School. Following the move to California, he continued to do so for five years at Scripps-Mercy Hospital. “He was an incredibly valuable member of the program,” said Dr. Charles Shaw, director of medical education at Scripps-Mercy, who taught with Dr. Kerman. “He brought wonderful insights from his experience, but equally important, he taught the importance of an open heart and open mind.”
In California, Dr. Kerman played tennis regularly until the second of two heart surgeries in the early 1990s. Following that surgery he kept in shape by walking along the beach, said his son.
He also participated in several book and movie discussion clubs and took classes almost every semester at the Institute for Continued Learning, University of California, San Diego. “Current events, politics, computers and everything else,” said his son. “He loved to learn.”
In addition to his wife and son, Dr. Kerman is survived by another son, Dan; two sisters, Judy Shore and Maxine Ehrenberg; and two grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Aug. 6 in La Jolla, Calif.
