Dr. Ralph Stanton Emerson died on Sept. 26, 2003 at the age of 91. Dr. Emerson was born in Foxcroft, ME, in 1912 and was raised in East Orange, NJ. He was a graduate of Cornell University (BA) in 1933 and Cornell University Medical College (MD) in 1936. Following a surgical residency in NYC, he established a surgical practice in Roslyn Heights, which was to continue until 1981, except for three years as an army surgeon in hospitals in the European Theatre (ETO) during WWII.

He was certified by the American Board of Surgery, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, president of the Brooklyn-LI Chapter and governor of the college. During his 40 years of medical practice, Dr. Emerson held the positions of director or co-director of surgery at three LI hospitals, president of the NC Medical Society, president of the Medical Society of the State of NY and MSSNY delegate to the AMA, serving as chairman of the NY delegation during his 17 years of representation. During that time, Dr. Emerson wrote extensively on the subjects of peer review, unjustified surgery and medical malpractice.

Dr. Emerson served as chairman of the consortium that developed the Quality Criteria Predictors of Hospital Care for the State of NY and served on the American Medical Association (AMA) committee, which established national standards for monitoring surgical care. He was pioneer in sports medicine serving as a consultant to the NYS High School Athletic Association and on its insurance company Board of Directors from 1942 to 1978. For his service to his community and his profession, Dr. Emerson was the recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Award from the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council and the Bernard H. Hughes Award from the NYS athletic associations.

He was a founder and the chairman of the board of the first physician mutual fund, which later merged into Smith Barney. During his presidency of the Medical Society of the State of NY, the Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company (MLMIC) was formed to provide professional liability insurance for 18,000 physicians during the malpractice crisis of the 1970s when the private insurance carriers discontinued their insurance coverage. For his leadership during this crisis, Dr. Emerson was named "Man of the Week in the News" by The New York Times. Upon retiring from his surgical practice in 1981, he resigned from the Board of the MLMIC, but continued until his death as a consultant writing surgical critiques for the company and for law firms.

During his 60 years of dedication to the practice of medicine and contribution to his community, Dr. Emerson was blessed with the support and love of two remarkable women: Charlotte, his wife of 44 years with whom he raised a family of three children, Charlotte Miller Emerson died in 1986, and Helen Young Emerson whom he married in 1988 and through whom he received the gift of three additional children to his family. Helen Young Emerson died in 1994.

Dr. Emerson is survived by his children, Joan, Scott and John and stepchildren, Barbara, Stanley and William; 16 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 p.m. on Nov. 21 at the Roslyn Heights Funeral Home, 75 Mineola Ave., Roslyn Heights for visitation. A memorial service for Dr. Emerson is being planned. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Francis Hospital, Roslyn, the PKU Organization of Illinois or the American Diabetes Association.