RICHARD STEPHEN MATERSON

RICHARD STEPHENMATERSON, MD passed away on Wednesday, the 10th of February 2010. Dick was born in Philadelphia in 1941 to June Slakoff Materson and Alfred Materson. He was raised in Miami, Florida, where he majored in Chemistry and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1965 from the University of Miami. He entered the United States Army serving as a Major, R.A. He interned at Walter Reed General Hospital. After completing his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation there and at Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco, he served in the Pacific Theater, primarily at Tripler General Hospital and as a consultant to Admiral John S. McCain Jr, CINCPAC, winning the Meritorious Service Medal.After the service, he joined the faculty at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, where he was an Assistant Professor of PM&R. He came to Houston in 1976 and maintained a private PM&R practice until 1990. He also served as clinical Associate Professor both at Baylor and University of Texas Medical Schools. He served in various medical staff offices reaching Chief of Staff at Memorial Hospital Southeast, chaired the Joint Hospital Conference Committee of the Memorial Hospital System, and was elected to the Board of Memorial Hermann Hospital System, where he became Chair of the Joint Conference Committee (Board and Medical Staff).He was then invited to become Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Medical Director of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C. where he also served on the Board of Directors from 1990-1997. He returned to Houston in July 1997 as Medical Vice President for Post Acute Care, Occupational Medicine, Wellness and Complementary Care at the Memorial Hermann Continuing Care Corporation. In May 2000, he was appointed Chief Medical Officer. Beginning July 1, 2002, he served as VP for Medical Development for Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. He also was an Emeritus Clinical Full Professor of PM&R in the allied programs of Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He was an Adjunct Professor for the Pain Management Curriculum for programs sponsored by the American Academy of Pain Management in its Integrated Studies University. He also served the American Academy of Pain Management as founding co-chair and then as a member of the Board of Advisors. He was a Leyland Kaiser Institute Fellow in Integrative Medicine in 1999 and served as faculty for that program. He also completed a Kaiser Intuition Fellowship. He served two terms as Chairman of the Board of the Texas Medical Center's Institute for Spirituality and Health, a 52 year old institution promoting spiritually based compassionate ethical health care. He became President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Spirituality and Health in July 2008.Dick authored or co-authored multiple books and chapters, and gave over 275 invited papers and presentations. His areas of expertise expanded beyond general physiatry to pain medicine, occupational medicine, musculoskeletal and spine medicine, complementary and integrated medicine, spirituality and healing and health policy. He was the founder and President of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Education and Research Foundation. He was a member of, and then chaired the Residency Review Committee for PM&R for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. He held the highest office in numerous professional organizations, including Presidency of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, which awarded him its Distinguished Public Service Award and Walter Zeiter Lectureship. He received commendations from two Secretaries of the Treasury and two Presidents of the United States for health policy activity and advocacy on behalf of citizens with disability. He was the recipient of many other honors and citations and is listed in Who's Who in the World, America, Southwest, Science and Medicine and Education.With C. Stephen Byrum, Ph.D., he developed the use of axiology in the treatment of pain patients. He co-authored, with Dr. Byrum, a chapter entitled "Assessing Patient Spirituality: A Compelling Avenue for New Discovery" for the 7th Edition of the American Academy of Pain Management textbook.While he medically retired at age 65, he experienced significant recovery and returned to contributory medical positions, including serving as voluntary faculty for nursing and medical students for Houston schools, serving the Institute for Spirituality and Health, and maintaining a part time medical practice.Dick was an incredible man with a real love for life. A lover of food and wine, he was active at various times in his life in many wine societies, including the Wine and Food Society, the Knights of the Vine, and the Chevalier du Tastevins. He would travel far and wide for a good meal and wine. He was a very warm, generous, kind, and loving friend, and he never met a stranger. Dick was a master storyteller. Above all, he was a wonderful husband, father, and brother. He was married for 45 years to his beloved wife Rosa Navarro Materson and had two adoring children, Lisa and Larry Materson. He is also survived by Lisa and Larry's spouses Philip Kaminsky and Sherri Langford; grandchildren, Joshua Kaminsky, Madelyne Materson, Korin Langford, and Kaela Calloway; brother and sister, Barry (Biruta) Materson and Sue Bottorff; and cousin, Barbara (Peter) Schwartz. He also leaves behind many nieces and nephews. He will be greatly missed.Friends are cordially invited to join the family for an internment service to be conducted on Friday the 12th of February at 10:30 am at Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive in Houston, where Rabbi David Lyon, Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, will officiate.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Institute for Spirituality and Health, 8100 Greenbriar, Suite 220, Houston, TX, 77054, 713-797-0600 http://ish-tmc.org; or to the Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 9700 W. Bryn Mawr Ave, Suite 200, Rosemont, IL 60018, 847-737-6062 www.foundationforpmr.org; or to the charity of your choice.