Joseph Canipelli

CANIPELLI Joseph Canipelli, M.D., a retired general surgeon and past Chief of Staff at St. Vincent's Hospital died Tuesday. He was 90. A graveside memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Oaklawn Cemetery, 4801 San Jose Blvd followed by reception at 4468 Ortega forest Dr. A native of Macon, Ga., Dr Canipelli graduated from Mercer University and in 1941, received his medical degree from the Emory University School of Medicine. He completed his internship at Grady Hospital in Atlanta and then joined the Army Air Corps in the summer of 1942. He applied to and graduated from the School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph Field, Texas. He served as a Squadron Flight Surgeon with the 353rd Fighter Group of the Eighth Air Force in Raydon, England. After the war, he completed his training in General Surgery at Grady and began practicing in Jacksonville in the fall of 1949. At that time, General Surgery encompassed many procedures now performed by other surgical specialties. Many of these operations were long, complicated and required more anesthesia skills than generally available at the time. Dr Canipelli was instrumental in establishing the practice of anesthesiologists in Jacksonville. He introduced early efforts in cardiac and vascular surgery to Jacksonville, particularly following the work of Dr. C. Walton Lillehei of Minnesota. As this work became a specialty, Dr Canipelli was active in supporting the practices of the first cardiac surgeons in Jacksonville. Dr. Canipelli served as Chief of the Department of Surgery at St. Vincent's from 1962 to 1972 and as Chief of the Medical Staff from 1967 to 1969. He chaired the Ambulatory Services Committee at St. Vincent's from 1973 to 1976, which lead to establishing the outpatient surgical unit. He served as a board member and later President of the Jacksonville Blood Bank. He retired in 1980. Time permitting, Dr. Canipelli was an enthusiastic hobbyist. Starting with gardening in the Fifties, he had a large collection of camellias, award-winning orchids and later became enthused with bonsai. Teamed with another physician, he raced sports cars for two years but did not progress to Formula One. After retiring he became interested in sculpting and for several summers studied marble carving in the Carrara region of Italy. He was a member of the Monday Morning Art Group for many years. Dr. Canipelli was preceded in death by his wife of 46 years, Natalie. He is survived by his three children, Joseph Canipelli, Jr. (Katherine), Susan C. Klima ( Bill), Adelaide Canipelli and grandsons Bill Klima, Jr. (Liddy) and Joseph Klima. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Vincent's Foundation, P.O. Box 41564, Jacksonville, FL 32204 Please Sign the Guestbook @ Jacksonville.com