Dr. H. Ralph Schumacher, Jr. of Gladwyne, formerly of Gulph Mills, died at his home on July 30, 2017 from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  Dr. Schumacher was Professor Emeritus and former acting Chief of Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Section Chief of Rheumatology at the VA Medical Center

Dr. Schumacher was a true giant and a fundamental force in the field of Rheumatology internationally and an academic and clinical fixture at the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia VA Hospital for the past 50 years.

Born in Montreal in 1933, Dr. Schumacher received his B.S. at Ursinus College and his M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania.  He completed an internship at the Denver General Hospital, where he met his wife, Liz, who was then a student nurse.  He completed his residency and a fellowship at the Wadsworth VA Hospital/UCLA, after which he interrupted his training to serve for two years as a Staff Physician in the United States Air Force in California where he was the only rheumatologist in the entire Air Force.  Dr. Schumacher then completed another fellowship in rheumatology at the Robert B. Brigham Hospital and one in pathology at the Peter B. Brigham Hospital.

Dr. Schumacher joined the Penn faculty in 1967 and steadily rose to rank of full professor in 1979.  He also held a secondary appointment as Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.  He twice served as the acting Chief of Rheumatology.  Dr. Schumacher was primarily based at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center where he was Section Chief of Rheumatology for 38 years (1967-2005).

Dr. Schumacher was the quintessential physician-scientist who explored with state-of-the art laboratory techniques many questions that emerged from his astute clinical observations.  He is best known for his seminal studies concerning forms of joint inflammation.  He was also one of the first scientists to use electron microscopy to study joint diseases.  His work led to many major advances in both the understanding of inflammatory arthritis and the treatment of complex rheumatologic disorders.

Dr. Schumacher was an exceptionally productive and prolific scientist and author.  He  was the author  and editor of more than a dozen books and more than 600 published research articles, and was writing and editing through this past year.  He was also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology.

Early in his career Dr. Schumacher researched cures for Kwashiorkor in a Guatemalan village and worked as an extern at the Talihina Indian Hospital in Oklahoma.  These experiences fueled his interest in other cultures and his love of learning from, and teaching in, other parts of the world.  In 1981, he took a sabbatical in Taiwan and trained the first rheumatologists in that country.

H. Ralph Schumacher will be remembered as an inspiring , highly supportive and effective teacher and mentor.  An incredible number of trainees at all levels from many countries, and his faculty colleagues, were inspired by Dr. Schumacher’s infectious enthusiasm and expertise in patient care, insatiable scientific curiosity and insight, and extraordinary commitment to mentoring and teaching.  He ultimately mentored over 200 scholars from over 30 countries. Many current leading rheumatologists in the United States and elsewhere cite Dr. Schumacher as being highly influential in their decisions to pursue a career in rheumatology.

Despite his enormous contributions to medicine, Dr. Schumacher had many outside interests.  His skills and determination on the basketball court translated into his setting the men’s basketball scoring record at Ursinus College that would stand for decades; he was a legendary figure in the annual Penn housestaff-faculty basketball games.  He and Liz created a spectacular, award-winning, terraced garden at their home in Gulph Mills, and they were well known in local horticultural circles.  Just days before his death, he completed a book he wrote with his wife called Creating (and Enjoying) an Idiosyncratic Garden.  Dr. Schumacher enjoyed many hobbies and interests throughout his lifetime including tennis, painting, stamp collecting, guitar, trumpet, travel, and learning new languages.  Among his many adventures, he climbed the Great Wall of China, used a blow gun to hunt fish while floating on a raft in the Amazon, and climbed Machu Picchu in the 1960s, long before it was a common destination.  All who knew him will dearly miss his quick, dry sense of humor and his world-class use and appreciation of puns.

Dr. Schumacher leaves behind his wife of 54 years, Elizabeth (Liz) Jean Swisher Schumacher; his two daughters, Heidi Wilson (Ray) and Kaethe Schumacher (Michael Epstein); and three grandchildren, Alison, Jessica and Jack. There will be a private service for family and close friends on August 13, 2017.  A public memorial service at the University of Pennsylvania will be held in September.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations in memory of Dr. H. Ralph Schumacher be mailed to Penn Medicine’s Division of Rheumatology at: “Penn Rheumatology, 3535 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104” to support the Schumacher Rheumatology Research Fund.  Please mention “Dr. Schumacher” in the correspondence or on the check memo.  Checks should be made payable to the “Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.”  Dr. and Mrs. Schumacher helped establish this fund at Penn Medicine.  Donations are also accepted online by visiting: http://givingpages.upenn.edu/SchumacherFund; or to the ALS  Assn., 321 Norristown Rd. - Suite 260; Ambler, PA 19002