Roy H. Clauss (February 8, 1923, in
Melrose Park, Illinois
Melrose Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 24,796. Melrose Park had long been home to a large Italian-American population.
The suburb was the home ...
– July 7, 2007 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
) was an American pioneering cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon.
During his career, Clauss helped develop and perfect a variety of techniques involved in the performance of open heart surgery and cardiac bypass surgery, and helped pioneer bilateral carotid artery surgery. He authored over 150 medical articles.
In 1971 he co-authored ''Remedial Arterial Disease'' with the late Dr. Walter Redisch. Clauss and his second wife,
Pamela Heavey Clauss, a surgical and heart pump
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
, along with Greek surgeon, Dr. George Sanoudos, established the first open heart surgery facility in
Athens, Greece
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
in the mid-1970s.
[''New York Times'' obituary](_blank)
July 10, 2007.
Personal Life
Clauss graduated from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Chart ...
in 1943 and from its medical school in 1947. Clauss married Jane Hamden of
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated i ...
in 1945, by whom he had three children. A widower, Clauss married his second wife,
Pamela Heavey in 1970; they remained married until her death in 2001.
He was a patron of the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. Clauss was a deacon and elder of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. In 1993, he was one of the founding members of The City Church in Manhattan. He died at the age of 84 in 2007.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clauss, Roy
1923 births
2007 deaths
American thoracic surgeons
American Presbyterians
Northwestern University alumni
People from New York City
People from Melrose Park, Illinois
Feinberg School of Medicine alumni
20th-century surgeons