Dr. Edward J. Kamin passed away on December 25, 2022 at his home in Charter House from heart disease and the infirmities of aging at age 91. Ed was preceded in death by Martha, his beloved wife of 66 years (2020). Martha’s gravestone aptly reads Daughter, Wife, Mother, and Saint. He is survived by their children Paul, Thomas, Mary, Mark, Anne, Sarah, and Andrew, grandchildren Peter, Olivia, Jakob, Moira, Miles, and great-grandson Stone.
Ed was born on Maudy Thursday on April 2, 1931 and died on Christmas Day. His birth was 10 days after the death of his father (at age 23) from an infected ankle wound. He was raised in Chicago by his devoted mother, Margaret, and doting grandparents. He was always tall for his age and excelled in academics and athletics, as a scholarship student from 8th grade through college. He was recruited to Saint Louis University, then the nation’s #1 basketball team. As his athletic career slowed, he received his MD from Chicago’s Loyola University cum laude as Class President, standing first in his class in the clinical years.
Ed served a 20 year career in the Army Medical Corp, 10 years of which were spent at Walter Reed Hospital in internal medicine residency and staff. He assisted in the care of many of the senior military and political leaders of that time, including the President. He designed and ran the first Military Coronary Care and Medical Intensive Care units. He extensively studied coronary disease in 300 men under the age of 40. He served in senior positions in Europe and in Hawaii. His internal medicine trainees in Hawaii scored in the top 5% of the hundreds of programs in the country, ahead of all the teaching programs in the Military, in the challenging American Board of Internal Medicine examination.
In 1975 Ed retired from the Military to accept an appointment at the Mayo Clinic to form a Division of Internal Medicine to provide prompt access to adult patients in southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa. This required introducing an appointment system unique to this division, with same day appointments always available. An excellent staff was recruited, a number of whom later served in key Clinic leadership positions. Family Medicine was supported in Area Medicine for years. Clinics in outlying area communities were established and staffed by Area Medicine consultants. During his mentorship, an annual week long Internal Medicine Course was introduced and has prospered for 40 years. Mayo faculty-staffed meetings held outside Rochester were an important innovation.
Ed had an unusual number of skills outside medicine. Photography and woodworking were prize winning. He refaced his home with stone. He installed central air conditioning. He extensively remodeled a kitchen, resurfacing 50 cabinets. Martha was indeed a patient wife during these adventures. In retirement he finally learned to program the VCR.
A joint Mass of Christian Burial for Ed and Martha will be celebrated on Friday, December 30, 2022 at 10:00AM at Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist with Msgr. Gerald A. Mahon officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Private burial next to Martha will be at Fort Snelling National Cemetery with military honors.
In lieu of flowers memorials can be made to Dorothy Day Hospitality House. PO Box 6054 Rochester, MN 55903 or online at dorothydayrochestermn.org
Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com
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