John F. Schaefer

Dr. John F. Schaefer, a retired family practitioner and former president of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, died July 14, 1994 of congestive heart failure at his home in Catonsville. He was 81.

The 6-foot-4-inch physician, who was known for his ever-present bow tie and gentle manner, had practiced medicine in the Irvington and Catonsville areas from 1952 until his retirement in 1980.

William F. Zorzi Sr., a retired AAA-Automobile Club of Maryland executive and former News American reporter, said, "Jack and I have been good friends for years, and he loved to talk about newspapers. "As a youngster, he was H. L. Mencken's copy boy on the Evening Sun in the 1920s, and by changing fields, he wound up becoming head of MedChi."

Mr. Zorzi credited Dr. Schaefer with saving his life in 1957 when he fell ill with a mysterious medical condition that required emergency exploratory surgery in the middle of the night. "He saved lots of people's lives besides mine. He was a fine man," Mr. Zorzi said.

Dr. Schaefer grew up on East 22nd Street and graduated from St. Ann's School and, in 1930, from Calvert Hall College. He graduated from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in 1934 and the UM School of Medicine in 1938.

During World War II, he served in the Army Medical Corps with the 311th General Hospital, stationed in Manila, the Philippines. He was discharged with the rank of major in 1946. From 1946 to 1952, he was chairman of the Disability and Disease Rating Board of the Veterans Administration. After that, he opened a private practice. He had also been an assistant Baltimore County medical examiner, assigned to the Wilkens and Woodlawn police precincts.

Dr. Schaefer was a member of many professional organizations, including the Board of Medical Examiners, the Baltimore City Medical Society and the American Association of Family Practitioners. In 1971, he was president of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland.

He was an inveterate newspaper reader and collected material on Mencken. He also read suspense novels and biographies, according to his wife, the former Naomi Herbert, whom he married in 1942.

Baltimore Sun, July 16, 1994