It was David Baltzan who placed the weight of his integrity behind early organ transplant programs while many others drew back from the ethical abyss they feared. The role of spiritual leader was one which eminently suited him and one he played in circles much wider than his own practice or family. A confidant, physician, and a friend to a Prime Minister; a scholar and teacher; a Jewish doctor who headed the most important committee in a Roman Catholic hospital for years and of whom it was said that the sisters "treated him like a bishop"; a doctor with roots in small town medicine who wrote off countless thousands in fees during the Depression; an academic with membership in scores of scientific societies, associations and groups - David Baltzan's honours, accomplishments and deeds are legendary. And yet, as his close friend Emmett Hall said in a terse eulogy, Baltzan "never looked for credit and did most of those things, and more, as a volunteer."

Verne Clemence is a Fitzhenry and Whiteside author.

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