Fred R. Amsler, Jr., M.D., one of two orthopedic and spine surgery inventors and pioneers who grew up in Oil City, Pennsylvania (the other being the Art Steffee, M.D.) passed away on Tuesday March 5, 2024 at the age of 90.
Dr. Amsler, Naval Medical Officer, inventor, and renown orthopedic surgeon, was a true renaissance man with a passion for medicine, aviation, and inventing unique products to help people.
Dr. Amsler earned his medical degree from Temple University Medical School in 1959, the same year John Charnley delivered his now famous lecture to the British Medical Association saying that it was “probable” that a prosthetic “femoral prosthesis, articulating in a PTFE socket” would work better than his original double cup design. Dr. Amsler went up north to St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Superior to complete a one-year internship.
In 1960, Dr. Amsler began his orthopedic surgical residency at Hamot Hospital in Erie. After only one year, though, he was drafted into the U.S. Navy Medical Corps and would serve his country for the next nine years—during the entire course of the Vietnam War.
Dr. Amsler was first assigned to the USS Boxer, LPH-4, a helicopter aircraft carrier serving at the time in the Caribbean, as the Assistant Medical Officer. Two years later he transferred to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Philadelphia, where he completed his residency in orthopedic surgery.
After completing his residency, he served at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina before being sent to Vietnam to be a member of the surgical team assigned to the Amphibious Force Alpha. A year later he transferred back to the U.S. where he served at a naval hospital in New York.
Dr. Amsler was honorably discharged from the United States Navy in July of 1969.
Dr. Amsler and his family moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he joined the practice of Francis V. Costello, M.D., and associates. His specialty was the emerging practice of modern orthopedic surgery.
During his career he was primarily affiliated with Williamsport Hospital and Devine Providence Hospital and served patients in North Central Pennsylvania—very close to where he grew up, in Oil City, where he was born in 1933.
During his childhood, Dr. Amsler also lived in Titus, Pennsylvania, then Millcreek Township, graduating from Millcreek High School (now called McDowell High School) in 1951. He received his bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University in 1955.
Besides his passion for medicine, Amsler also loved flying and was an instrument rated pilot with FAA licenses for several different types of aircraft from a glider to a multi-engine aircraft. He was also an inventor, best known for The Mattress Jack which is available online.
Amsler was preceded in death by his wife, Ilene App Amsler in 2015, and his partner Donna J. Amer in July 2019. He is survived his children, Patricia Becknell, Jeffrey Amsler, Kathyrn Corrigan and Karen Wukitsch, and his grandchildren.
