Charles Lewis Baird Jr.

BAIRD, Charles Lewis Jr., M.D., age 77, died August 30, 2008, at his home following a long battle with melanoma. Dr. Baird was born in Richmond, Va. on August 7, 1931. His father was a physician in the regular Army so Dr. Baird's family moved 23 times in 23 years, and he went to 14 different schools before graduating from John Muir High School in Pasadena, Calif. He graduated from the University of Richmond and went on to the Medical College of VA, where he graduated in 1957. He stayed on at the Medical College for a year of internship and completed an internal medicine residency. He then went to the Cleveland Clinic for a cardiovascular fellowship and trained under Dr. F. Mason Sones Jr., who was the first to perform selective coronary angiography. Dr. Baird spent two years in the Army after his Cleveland Clinic training, bringing coronary arteriography to Letterman Hospital in San Francisco. After his two year Army stint, he went to Durham, N.C. where he was the Director of Medical Education at Watts Hospital. Dr. Kinloch Nelson at MCV brought him to the Dept. of Cardiology at MCV, where he was instrumental in starting the Coronary Intensive Care Unit. In 1972, Dr. Baird set up the Virginia Heart Institute, the first free-standing outpatient cardiac catheterization lab in the United States. Virginia Heart Institute was established as a model for early detection and medical management of coronary artery disease. Dr. Baird was just as passionate about golf as he was about medicine and enjoyed the camaraderie of all his golfing friends. Survivors include, Jane Biery Baird, his wife of 46 years whom he met on a blind date while he was training at the Cleveland Clinic. Beloved children are: Paul Lewis Baird, Elizabeth Baird Kazazian, Anne Crawford Baird and Todd Biery Baird. Beloved grandchildren are Laurel Anne Kazazian, Haig Baird Kazazian and Charles Paul Kazazian. Beloved son-in-law, Haig Hagop Kazazian, III and daughter-in-law, Laura Eileen Baird and dogs: Kirby, Chauncey and Zo‰. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, September 3, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 815 E. Grace St. Memorial contributions may be made to the Paul H. and Louise C. Biery Fund for Cardiovascular Research at The Community Foundation. Special thanks from the Baird Family to Bon Secours Hospice and Senior Solutions caregivers.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.