Howard Sturtz, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon with a curious soul who embraced all life had to offer, passed away at the age of 87 on July 31, 2022. He died of COVID-19 complications at Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, California, following his battle with esophageal cancer.
Sturtz dedicated himself to his patients throughout his multi-decade career as an orthopedic surgeon. He was in practice and assisting other doctors well into his 70s. He was also an early advocate for many new orthopedic and surgical technologies and purchased one of the first arthroscopic tools for John Muir Medical Center.
Sturtz was born on June 12, 1935, in Bronx, New York and spent his childhood there. As a teenager, he spent summers as a lifeguard at Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York. After high school, he attended Columbia University, graduating in 1956. He then received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn in 1960.
He furthered his medical training with an orthopedic surgical residency at the Jewish Hospital in New York and a summer internship on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma in 1965. That same year he moved to Berkeley, California with his late first wife, Dr. Joyce Welsher.
After practicing in Berkeley for a year, he moved to Walnut Creek and joined the staff of John Muir Medical Center and established his own practice across the street from the hospital. He also had a practice in Antioch at Delta Memorial Hospital.
While at John Muir he regularly spent time in the emergency room and was a part of the John Muir Trauma Team and Utilization Review Committee.
Later on in his career, he assisted cases at Merrithew Memorial Hospital, now Contra Costa Regional, in Martinez and consulted with Bay Area orthopedic practices providing exams for the Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor and expert reviews for the State Medical Board.
A naturally curious person, he also loved to take his family on camping trips up and down the California coast, exploring the state’s varied landscapes from beaches to deserts, even ghost towns.
He especially loved the beach and water and owned various boats throughout his lifetime including a Lido, Hobie Cat, and a Pearson 303. He also loved to surf, ski and bird watch. He would assist the medical team at Bear Ski Resort as the on-call “Ski Doctor” while his family was on the slopes. Even as he got older, he didn’t slow down, skiing and surfing well into his 70s.
Community was always important to Sturtz. He was president of the Contra Costa Chapter of American Friends of Magen David Adom and supported the people and the State of Israel with a gift of an ambulance.
Sturtz married his second wife Leslie Stadt in 1977. They had two sons together and three sons and a daughter from their previous marriages.
His family wrote, “He loved sharing his passion for patient care and the ‘art of fixing bones’ with his children. He brought home X-rays regularly to share bones he put back together with screws and rods, demonstrated how to put on a cast during classroom sharing, casted the legs of one of the family cats, had his children tag along during hospital rounds, had many family dinners at the hospital cafeteria and loved having his kids scrub into surgery.
Sturtz leaves behind his wife, Leslie Sturtz, and children: David Sturtz and wife Pamela Strazdas of Moraga, Michael Sturtz of Alameda, Tara Stern and husband David Stern of Walnut Creek, Chris Matthews of Los Angeles, Jordan Sturtz and wife Natalya Sturtz of Walnut Creek, and Rob Sturtz and wife Eileen Ortiga of Lafayette. He also leaves behind 13 grandchildren: Madeline, Milana, Remy, Charlotte, Nathan, Skylar, Nicolette, Vivian, Hunter, Zachary, Sophia, Margaret, and Eli.
