Victor Panitch, Formerly of Shriner’s Hospital, Dies at 90

Victor Panitch, M.D., a long-time physician at Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Holyoke, Massachusetts, passed away at the age of 90.

Panitch was a well-loved and respected orthopedic surgeon in the Holyoke community of central Massachusetts. He served the community, which included all of Hampden country and, notably, Springfield, Massachusetts through his private practice, Holyoke Orthopedics Inc., and as a staff member of the Holyoke and Providence Hospitals. He was also, by invitation, an attending staff member at Shriners Hospital for Children.

A leader in the community, he served as the president of the staff at both Holyoke and Providence Hospitals and as a member of the board of directors at both hospitals.

He spent a lot of time volunteering with Shriner’s Hospital. For them, he regularly went to the Caribbean, Cyprus, and across New England to identify children with unmet orthopedic needs and to provide care for them, or to help facilitate treatment at the specialist hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. He volunteered with Shriner’s until he retired.

In his local community, he founded the scoliosis screening program for the Holyoke public schools and served on the board of directors of the Newell C. Mansir Trust.

For his commitment to helping others, Panitch was the inaugural recipient of the Holyoke Medical Center and Holyoke Hospital Auxiliary Distinguished Service Award in 2014.

Panitch who was born in 1932 grew up in Irvington, New Jersey, and graduated from Irvington High School in 1950. He then graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1954 and then attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He earned his medical degree in 1958.

While in school, he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha, the National Medical Honor Society. He did his orthopedic residency with the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, from 1962 to 1965.

Panitch served his country in the U.S. Navy at Mystic, Connecticut, submarine base. Additionally, he served with U.S. Marines at Camp Lejune, North Carolina.

“A gentleman and a scholar, Dr. Panitch was a man of eclectic interests and wide-ranging expertise. He could fly an airplane, tie a fly, keep bees, bake sourdough bread, and, if necessary, perform surgery on a child’s pet goose. He will be profoundly missed,” his family wrote in his obituary.

He is survived by his wife of almost 68 years, Sue Ellen and his four children, Mimi, Deborah, Jack, and Alyssa, as well as his daughter-in law Pauline Park. He also leaves behind his four grandchildren, Kylie, Jayce, William and Nathaniel and his brother Dr. Thomas Panitch, his wife Geraldine and their family.