Dr. Lawrence Ferlan was truly a man for all seasons
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Dr. Lawrence Ferlan’s daughter, Mary Ferlan, found the words to sum up her father’s life: “He was about going and seeing and doing and learning.”
Dr. Ferlan, who lived in Harrison and practiced medicine in Tarentum for decades, died in his New Hampshire house last Thursday. He was 85.
“Larry liked everything. He was interested in everything and he was totally dedicated to the welfare of his patients,” his longtime friend Dr. Ed Malloy said.
After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1960, Dr. Ferlan interned at Cincinnati General Hospital and spent two years at the Public Health Service in Staten Island, N.Y.
He joined the Family Practice of Tarentum in 1963 and then started his solo practice nearly two decades later, treating generations of patients in the region.
“He was always checking up on his patients,” said Malloy, 73, a longtime hematologist and oncologist at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Harrison.
“His patients would describe episodes of their phone ringing at 9:30 at night, and it would be Larry checking on them or giving them some results of recent X-rays or recent bloodwork they may have had. That’s how dedicated he was. He was down in his office in Tarentum paying attention to (his patients).”
Dr. Maggie Martin, 47, of Indiana Township spent 16 years working as a physician with Ferlan. She described him as a mentor.
“I was right out of residency and frequently, if I wanted another opinion on something, I always knew I could ask him and he would come in and take another look,” Martin said. “For years we would help each other out that way. If we ever wanted another perspective on a case, we would run it by each other. He was excellent at diagnosis and certainly helped to guide me in my early years.”
Ferlan earned numerous professional awards including Catholic Charities’ “Hero of Healing” award, the Exemplary Support and Committed Service Award from the Catholic Charities’ Board of Directors and the Saint Vincent College Meritorious Service Alumni of Distinction Award.
He attended Saint Vincent as an undergrad and met his wife, Joan Lavin, a Seton Hill College grad, at a student dance mixer. They were married for 62 years.
As dedicated as Dr. Ferlan was to his profession, he was even more dedicated to his family.
“He had such energy and enthusiasm. He dragged (his) six little kids up to Seven Springs, you know, skiing in the 1960s when there were those crappy lace-up boots,” Mary Ferlan said. “He would have us shimmy up the bunny slope and teach us how to ski down. What dad has the patience to teach six little kids how to snow ski in the bitter cold?”
Dr. Ferlan wanted his children to be well-rounded and exposed to as many things as possible, she said.
“He would take us in pairs up to Stratford in Canada to watch Shakespeare plays. There was classical music, the Pittsburgh Symphony. I took ballet classes. We all had to take music lessons. We did ice skating lessons. He just last month purchased Babbel, the computer program, to try and learn Spanish.”
He was a lifelong Catholic, dedicated to his faith, who attended daily Mass before work and never missed a Sunday Mass unless he was sick.
“He was just wonderful to work with, wonderful all around. He was just a great guy who had this joy of life and he brought it to work with him. He made you feel good just to be around him,” said Martin. “He was a father figure to all of us and he made us feel like a part of his family. I think he made his patients feel that way, too.”
Dr. Ferlan was preceded in death by his son Michael (Jennine Varhola), of Portland, Ore., who died in 2014. In addition to his wife, Dr. Ferlan is survived by his brother Stephen (Sally), his children Lawrence of Seattle, Paul (Becky Ewing) of Charlottesville, Va., Mary (Ed Erway) of Lexington, Ky., Virginia of Windsor, Conn., Katherine Jackson (Andrew) of Woodbridge, Conn., and Mark of Bedford, N.H.; and nine grandchildren.
Visitation was Monday in the Duster Funeral Home Inc. in Tarentum.
A Christian funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Most Blessed Sacrament Church, Harrison, with his pastor, the Rev. John B. Lendvai, officiating. Interment will follow in St. Vincent Cemetery, Latrobe. CDC regulations require a mask to be worn and social distancing to be observed. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to People Concerned for the Unborn Child and Covenant House NY, which provides services to homeless youth.