James Justin Brod M.D.

ONEIDA>> James Justin Brod, M.D., died on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015. Dr. Brod was born in New York City on May 6, 1925, and grew up in New Rochelle. He attended Dartmouth Medical School, where he contracted tuberculosis. He then spent three years in the Trudeau Sanatorium in Saranac Lake, where he made a full recovery and went on to medical school at McGill University in Montreal, graduating in 1951. He received his medical license in 1953.
Dr. Brod served in the US Navy as the chief medical officer for the Underwater Ordinance Station in Newport, Rhode Island, from 1954 – 1956. He then started his orthopedic residency at the University of Pennsylvania, where he met Mary Ann Hoffman, who was at the time a nursing student at Penn. They married on Nov. 22, 1958 in Middleburg, Pennsylvania.
The Brods moved to Bangor, Maine, where Dr. Brod started his first orthopedic practice in 1961. He then moved his family to Oneida in 1965 where he started Oneida's first orthopedic practice at Oneida City Hospital, serving as both chief of surgery and chief of staff at the hospital.
Dr. Brod maintained his orthopedic practice for 30 years, eventually partnering with Dr. Joseph Pierz. Throughout his career, his wife Mary Ann served as one of his surgical nurses.
Dr. Brod was Assistant Professor of Clinical Orthopedics at Upstate Medical Center for many years, and greatly enjoyed teaching young medical students. He also served as the team doctor for the Oneida High School football team for nearly 20 years, another position that he deeply enjoyed, because he truly loved working with young people.
Dr. Brod was a competent builder, blacksmith, welder, mechanic, carpenter, plumber, electrician – in fact, he could fix almost anything, and delighted in teaching his children, grandchildren, and just about anyone who cared to learn these skills. In the 1970s when jobs for teenagers were scarce, he designed a house that his children built and sold as their collective summer job. Dr. Brod was also a devoted and competent outdoorsman, eventually building a large family camp in Beaver River, New York, which became the family 'hub' which continues to this day. As many know, Beaver River was his favorite place in the world.
In 1974, the entire family went to the Dominican Republic with CARE International.
In 1988 Dr. Brod traveled to Peshawar, Pakistan, where he served in a field hospital on the frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan during the first Afghan war. Upon his return, he hosted two Afghan nurses in Oneida for two months, and enabled them to learn at the Oneida City Hospital. He retired in 1994.
Dr. Brod was committed to serving his community in many ways.
In the mid 1990s, he organized a gift of medical equipment and bicycles to Nicaragua and made several trips to Nicaragua.
Dr. Brod was an active member of the Oneida's Club and the Oneida Rotary Club.
He was also instrumental in the Phoenix Park and parks at Seneca Street School as well as many community projects throughout the greater Oneida area.
Dr. Brod is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, and four children and their spouses, William C. and Lisette Brod of Cazenovia, John C. and Debbie Brod of New Hartford, Thomas E. and Jane Brod of East Aurora, and Mary Ellen and John Mathewson of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and 12 grandchildren.
Calling hours will be held at the Campbell-Dean Funeral Home, Inc., 260 Main Street, Oneida, on Thursday, Jan. 7, from 3 – 7 p.m. The funeral will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Oneida on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 11 a.m. Interment will be made in Oneida Castle Cemetery.
In lieu of all flowers, gifts may be made to the CNY Community Foundation, 431 East Fayette Street, Syracuse, NY 13202 to establish a scholarship fund for the Greater Oneida Area in trade or medical vocations. To leave a message of condolence, please visit www.campbell-dean.com.
CAMPBELL-DEAN
FUNERAL HOME, INC.
Oneida