Aaron Perlman

Aaron W. Perlman, an orthopedic surgeon and founder of the cerebral palsy clinic at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center named in his honor, died Friday.

He was 96.

Susan Schiller, executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Cincinnati, called him "a pioneer physician who was passionate about improving the care and quality of life for people with cerebral palsy. During his career, he cared for many, if not most, of Cincinnati's children with cerebral palsy ... when many physicians would not."

He began practicing medicine in 1946; after 1970, he devoted his practice exclusively to children.

"He told me that the best decision he ever made was when he focused his practice exclusively on pediatric orthopedics," said colleague Alvin Crawford, who succeeded him at Cincinnati Children's and is co-director of the Crawford Spine Center and a professor of pediatric orthopedic surgery at the University of Cincinnati. "He said it was the most fun he ever had."

For more than 30 years, the two colleagues met weekly to review cases at Cincinnati Children's.

Dr. Perlman, a longtime partner in Freiberg Orthopaedics, was the founding director of orthopedics at Cincinnati Children's, a position he held from 1965 to 1978. His work continued a long association between Freiberg Orthopaedics and the hospital.

He established a cerebral palsy clinic at the hospital in 1973, and by the late 1980s, it had developed into a nationally recognized, multidisciplinary program. It was renamed in his honor in 1994.

The Perlman Center offers a variety of services, including aquatic therapy, community education and early therapeutic intervention for children with cerebral palsy and other chronic physical conditions and physical disabilities.

Dr. Perlman was devoted to meeting the special needs of children with cerebral palsy, and established a scholarship fund in his son Matthew's name to help families meet the cost of the program, said Linda Wnek, director of the Perlman Center.

He taught at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine from 1949 until his retirement, after which he was named a member of the Emeritus faculty.

The College of Medicine established the Aaron Perlman Award in his honor to recognize the resident who "shows the greatest compassion for patients and exemplifies the highest quality of patient care."

He retired in 1990.

"The three things that were most important to him were his work, his family and his community," said his daughter, Amy Pearl Parodi of Los Altos, Calif. "He had a voracious appetite for learning and life and extraordinary energy and endurance that lasted until the very end. We were all touched by his values and the impact he had on so many people."

Despite deteriorating vision and, later, hearing loss, Dr. Perlman remained active during his retirement.

He loved nature and was active in the Ohio Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Civic Garden Center of Cincinnati and Oxbow Inc. He and his wife loved travel, and were supporters of the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and the Cincinnati Symphony and LaSalle Quartet.

He was a member of the Greater Cincinnati Bonsai Club and regularly took classes through UC's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Cincinnati honored Dr. Perlman for his contributions in 2009.

Dr. Perlman, who lived in Clifton, was born Jan. 2, 1915, in New Haven, Conn., to Phillip and Minnie Perlman. He was the oldest of four boys.

He graduated from Yale University in 1935, then attended Laval University's medical school in Quebec - where he studied medicine in French, a language he didn't know when he enrolled.

"He said, 'I picked it up pretty quickly,'" his daughter said.

He did his residency in orthopedics at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati and a pediatric cerebral palsy fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

He served as a medical officer in both the U.S. Army and Air Force during World War II, and was stationed outside London. He joined the service in 1943.

He came back to Cincinnati in 1946 to join Freiberg Orthopaedics, joining an uncle in the practice.

In 1949, he married Betty Finn, a Dayton resident. They had three children.

He was preceded in death by his wife in 2007; his daughter, Sally Perlman in 2006; his son, Matthew Perlman, in 1993; and two brothers.

He is survived by a daughter, Amy Pearl Parodi; two grandchildren; a brother, Burton Perlman of East Walnut Hills; and a daughter-in-law, Carol DiPilla and her husband, Victor, of Wyoming.

Visitation will be 2 p.m. Sunday at Weil Funeral Home, 8350 Cornell Road, Blue Ash. Funeral service will follow at 3 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Matthew H. Perlman Scholarship Fund at the Aaron W. Perlman Center for Children, P.O. Box 5202, Cincinnati, OH 45201-5202; or Oxbow Inc., P.O. Box 4172, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025.

Written by Peggy O'Farrell | pofarrell@enquirer.com