Dr. Erdogan Atasoy

1931 - 2017

Atasoy, Dr. Erdogan,

died peacefully at home surrounded, in person and in spirit, by family and friends who loved him. He was born on April 23, 1931 and passed away on October 19, 2017 at the age of 86.

Dr.Atasoy, a third generation physician and accomplished hand surgeon, son of Dr. Cemil Atasoy and Semiye Atasoy, brother to Ayten Atasoy and grandson of Dr. Ali Riza Atasoy and Emine Ihsan Atasoy, was born in Istanbul,Turkey. Following the tragic death of his father during his infancy, Dr.Atasoy and his sister were raised by his extended family in Istanbul.

After completing his medical degree in Istanbul, Dr. Atasoy immigrated to the United States in 1956 where he ultimately completed general surgery training in Louisville, Kentucky. In order to fulfill his military obligations, he returned to Turkey, where he eventually met his future wife Türkan. Subsequently, he returned to Louisville in 1966 to train in hand surgery where he remained until his retirement in 2013 at the age of 81. Dr. Atasoy made significant contributions to the field of hand surgery initially by developing a technique for tissue flap advancement in the treatment of finger tip injuries. Later in his career, he concentrated on management of peripheral nerve compressions, ultimately becoming an expert in the challenging treatment of thoracic outlet compression.

In the operating room and outpatient clinic he will always be remembered not only for his very meticulous nature and great care for both his surgical and non-surgical patients but also for his wittiness and great sense of humor. He was fond of and will always be remembered for giving humorous nicknames to all his friends and colleagues and for always (half-jokingly) complaining "The lights are terrible as usual".

He would also tell people that he was from Turkey- North Carolina (actual place).

Dr. Erdogan Atasoy was a devout Muslim, dedicated to helping people both professionally through his many years as a physician and personally through his numerous contributions to charities.

When asked about retirement his response each time would always be "Who's going to take care of these patients?"

He was an avid soccer fan, his favorite professional team being Fenerbahçe of Istanbul. He took pleasure in reading and talking about history, religion, geography, soccer and his contributions to the field of hand surgery. His interest in gardening ranged initially from planting and grafting various fruit trees when he was younger and later to planting and distributing Crepe Myrtles to his neighbors, friends and family. He loved listening to Baroque music both at home and in the operating room during his surgeries. His favorite car was his blue 1986 Buick station wagon which he drove almost exclusively to visit his grandchildren in North Carolina, whom he loved dearly. He was affectionately referred to as " büyük baba" (grandfather in Turkish) by his youngest granddaughter and would always affectionately address his twin granddaughters by their Turkish middle names. One of his favorite activities was to show his middle school age grandson his vast collection of surgical tools, explaining to him in great detail how to "properly" hold and use them.

Dr. Erdogan Atasoy is preceded in death by his wife Türkan Atasoy and leaves behind 2 sons, Dr.Erhan Atasoy (48) and Bilhan Atasoy (46), a daughter Beyhan Atasoy (44), four grandchildren, Aydin Atasoy (13), Leah Atasoy (10), Mia Atasoy (10) and Leyla Harvey (9) as well as many loving relatives residing throughout Turkey.

We are eternally grateful to our family in Istanbul, Turkey notably his deceased uncles, Cemal Atasoy and Celal Atasoy, who raised Dr.Atasoy when he was a child after the untimely death of his father.

We are also eternally grateful to our maternal aunts in Ankara, Turkey, Firdevs Taner and her deceased sister Bahire Karakas, for their support to our father during our mother's illness and subsequent death in 1985.

After the visitation at Pearson Funeral home, Dr. Erdogan Atasoy was laid to rest at the Islamic Cemetery of Kentuckiana on October 19, 2017.

Anyone wanting to make charitable contributions in Dr.Atasoy's name can do so by contributing to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the American Cancer Society.