Obituary

Perry W Nadig 1928±1997

From the ®rst time I met Perry Nadig, I formed an
image in my mind of explorer, adventurer. That ®rst
time was in 1980, in Monaco at the second gathering
of international scientists meeting and forming a
group that was to become eventually the Interna-
tional Society for the Study of Impotence. We have
shared over the years many thoughtful heart to heart
conversations of what we are about as scientists and
where our scienti®c explorations were going.

Who was Perry Nadig? He was ®rst a physician
and urologist, whose compassion and care of
patients was exemplary. He was not afraid to still
say `I am the patient's advocate'. He received his
education as a medical doctor at the University of
Rochester in Rochester, New York, where he
graduated in 1954, and where he was a member of
the AOA. He was an intern and assistant resident in
general surgery at one of the af®liated Yale Uni-
versity Hospitals. He interrupted his medical educa-
tion in 1957±1959, where he was a captain in the
United States Army Medical Corp with service in
Ethiopia. He returned to do his urology residency at
the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas
City, Kansas. He entered into private practice in San
Antonio in 1962, and he has served as a clinical
professor of urology at the University of Texas
Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. He
has also been a member of the Board of Directors of
the Mission Pharmacal Company.

A fellow resident, Dr Logan Holtgrewe, a previous
president of the AUA, characterized Perry in a

memorial service eulogy as surgeon of great skill.
This friendship with Dr Holtgrewe led to Perry and
his wife hosting the 1993 annual meeting of the
American Urological Association in San Antonio.
Perry and his wife were short term medical
missionaries to Tanzania in 1966.

Perry Nadig was a medical innovator, an educa-
tor. He was a pioneer in the development of the
vacuum device for treatment of erectile dysfunction.
He published the ®rst peer review paper for use of
that device in 1986. He has since published 25 peer
reviewed articles and two book chapters.

Perry Nadig was also a very devoted husband and
father, who was married for 43 years. I knew he and
his wife well and there were no two individuals that
demonstrated the statement of being truly equal
partners.

Perry Nadig was an adventurer and traveler. As
he said in his curriculum vitae of travel, `We go to
those parts of the world that have not yet been found
by tourists'. Examples of places that they visited
were the Galapagos Islands, the Peruvian Amazon,
Jordan (where he and his wife camped and visited
archeological sites), the Sahara Desert (where he and
his wife traveled by camel caravan), Botswana, and
Papua, New Guinea. On one of the trips in 1989, he
and his wife were visiting Antarctica on the ship
Bahia Paraiso, which sank after striking a rock near
the Antarctic circle. This was certainly a trip to long
remember.

Perry Nadig was an accomplished amateur photo-
grapher. One of his photos on that trip to Antarctica
was printed in the National Geographic magazine.

Lastly, Perry Nadig was a remarkable human
being. He was a witty man and no one could ever
forget that `Kris Kringle' smile and demeanor which
will always be remembered.

I have been particularly touched by Perry's
chosen epitaph, which was adapted from Ben
Franklin, `Here lies Perry Nadig, physician, like an
old book, it's cover torn, it's contents worn and
shabby, food for the earth. But he is not here, for, as
he believed, the book lives, it's cover redone, and it's
contents revised by the Editor'. Dr Nadig believed
that organ donations allows a human book to live.
He would encourage you to be an organ donor.

Memorial contributions can be made to the
University of Rochester class of 154 scholarship
fund, University of Rochester School of Medicine
and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 501,
Rochester, New York 14692.

International Journal of Impotence Research (1997) 9, 113±114
ß 1997 Stockton Press All rights reserved 0955-9930/97 $12.00



Finally, at the conclusion of Perry's memorial
service in his hometown, a trio consisting of a
trumpet, a trombone and clarinet played `When the
saints go marching on'; what an appropriate tribute
to remember at this meeting of the SSI as we meet in
the city where this song has so much meaning and

had its beginning. We will stand and have a moment
of silence for this fellow physician.

RW Lewis
delivered at the SSI Annual Meeting on April 12,

1997, New Orleans, Louisiana

Obituary

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