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Wizard of diagnosis: Highly regarded Sudbury physician Dr. Istvan Waldmann has passed away at 93

Born in Hungary, Waldmann escaped death in Nazi-occupied Hungary, and went on to practise medicine in Sudbury for most of his life
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Dr. Istvan Waldmann is seen here in this photo taken early in 2019. (File)

A Sudbury physician highly regarded by the medical community and by countless patients passed away Dec. 16 at the age of 93.

Known for his ability to diagnose patients whose cases baffled other medical professionals, Dr. Istvan Marcell Waldmann only hung up his stethoscope relatively recently after practising medicine for 67 years.

His life and achievements were featured in February 2019 in this extensive Sudbury.com article written by the late Sudbury journalist Carol Mulligan, who also passed away this year.

Born an only child in Budapest, Hungary in 1926, Waldmann was taken at age 17 by German Nazis and Hungarian collaborators to a slave labour camp in Bor, Serbia.

After being liberated, he went on to graduate from medical school in Budapest in 1951 and was qualified as a specialist in internal medicine in 1953.

He remained in Budapest until the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, marrying Klara Eva Csillag before that. When the revolution occurred, he and Klara left Hungary on foot.

Waldmann carried his son, who was three or four years old, in a rucksack on his back, while Klara was months pregnant with their second child. They came to Canada as refugees.

Waldmann applied to become an intern resident in Toronto, but those positions were already filled by other Hungarian refugees. He was offered a job as an orderly at Mount Sinai Hospital and accepted it.

As he swept and mopped floors at Mount Sinai, Dr. Brent Hazelwood, who was chief of medical services for Inco in Sudbury, heard about the young Hungarian medical graduate who wanted to start his medical career in Canada.

Hazelwood travelled to Toronto to interview Waldmann, who moved his family to Sudbury. He was soon doing an internship in internal medicine under the supervision of Dr. Jack Sturtridge at Sudbury General Hospital.

His obituary said he went on to head the Cardiology and Intensive Care departments at the St. Joseph's Health Centre (formerly known as the Sudbury General Hospital), where he was Chief of Medicine for 15 years. He also worked for the MDS Laboratories reading ECGs for decades.

His obituary also speaks of his love of music, his favourite being classical chamber music. He was born to a family of musicians, including his mother, father and grandfather.

He played the violin with many musical groups, both abroad and here in Canada. He also conducted the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra from time to time.

Waldmann is survived by his son Peter Istvan (wife Heather) and his daughter Marion Eva (significant other Oswald), as well as his grandchildren Rachel, Nathan, Daniela and Alin.

He is predeceased by his parents Marcell Albert and Blanka Waldmann (nee Lukacs) and his wife Klara Eva (nee Csillag).

A visitation for Waldmann takes place at the Jackson and Barnard Funeral Home Dec. 23 from 1-3 p.m.

A Celebration of Life to follow early in the New Year, with location, date and time to be determined.

Donations to the Northern Cancer Foundation Cancer Centre, the Heart & Stroke Foundation or Health Sciences North Foundation would be appreciated by the family.


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