Ronald Rene Pfister

Accomplished surgeon and admired medical professor Ronald “Ron” Rene Pfister, 94, died peacefully at home in the company of family on December 11, 2021. Ron was born in Newton, Massachusetts to Rene Pfister and his wife Betty on June 7th, 1927. Dynamic and curious, Ron’s hunger for learning was sparked at the Fessenden school, where he matriculated after his 6th grade public school teacher deemed him “slow”. That spark roared to a fire at Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. There, surrounded by caring teachers and faced with serious intellectual challenges, Ron flourished. Some 60 years later he could still let fly many a poem memorized there. He sped through Harvard in three years by doing additional summer coursework. Though a pre-med biological sciences major, his favourite classes involved classical music, a passion which would continue throughout his life. After graduating Cum Laude, Ron was drafted into the navy and served in Newfoundland. Fortunately, the war ended after only a year and he was discharged back in Boston August 3, 1946.

Ron attended Columbia Medical School in New York City after feeling his Harvard Medical School interviewer was rude. Ever in love with the arts, Ron occasionally skipped studying to attend the New York Symphony. Ron’s good friend Jack Williams needed someone with a car in order to visit a girlfriend upstate at Skidmore College. Ron was enlisted with the promise of a blind date with an exchange student from Paris, Marie-Madeleine de La Selle. Though Ron was smitten, it was hardly love at first sight for Marie. She was cajoled into a second date which included passing out leaflets for the liberal presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson! Perhaps it was his unique ideas for a date or simply his passion for life, but Marie was eventually won over. A soon-to-expire visa put pressure on the young couple and Ron was convinced he must secure her hand before she left. Her French family was concerned with their cultural differences and with the haste of the proposition, but eventually they, too, came around. Ron and Marie were married in the beautiful backyard garden of his parent’s home in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts on September 26th 1953, a bond which lasted over 60 years until Marie’s passing in 2014.

An early cross country road trip opened Ron’s eyes to the grandeur of the American West. When it came time for his surgical residency, after his surgical internship in NYC in 1954, he opted for an offer at the University of Colorado with the renowned surgeon Henry Swan. Eventually he settled on the specialty of urology, partly due to a bond of friendship with Oliver Stonington, the head of the department. After serving as the Chief Resident, he was certified and started a private practice with partners John Whitesell and Carlton Dean. They were later joined by Robert Yakely. Ron’s practice thrived, but he could not ignore his calling to teach. He left private practice to become a professor at the University of Colorado at a substantial financial cost. He became Chief of Urology and was much beloved by his residents. His dedication to his patients and his determination to stay abreast of advances in surgery continuously motivated him. He was eager to further his knowledge and skills in ever more specialized areas. He treasured his work with the transplant pioneer Thomas Starzl. Even late in his career he left for study sabbaticals in Philadelphia with John Duckett and later in Dublin with Barry O’Donnell.

During these demanding years of building his career and practice, Ron and Marie had four children, Elizabeth, Christopher, Peter, and Claire. When not busy with his patients, Ron was intensely caught up in his many passions. For years it was sailing. Ron spent hours varnishing his wooden boats in the garage and on his racing skills on the water. Later it was raising and training Labrador retrievers, first simply for his duck hunting and later to satisfy his competitive streak, driving his family throughout the western states to attend field trials. He managed to qualify a few dogs for national competitions. The Labradors were later joined by Jack Russell terriers. It was only the firm limits set by his wife that kept their household from being completely overrun. Though he famously responded to his eldest daughter’s request for a horse that they were, “Just big, dumb animals” once bitten by the equine bug, that, too, became a passion and through deep study and diligent practice he became an accomplished and knowledgeable horseman.

In addition to these sportive activities, Ron’s passion for classical music and his growing love of Western art resulted in an expanding circle of spirited friendships with musicians and artists, and a house filled with sculptures and paintings. Never content to sit on the side lines, Ron himself took up the piano as an adult. After coming home from the hospital, he sat at the keyboard late into each night, determinedly working over difficult passages of Debussy and Chopin. Ron and Marie hosted musical gatherings at their home that included recitals well into his late eighties. Nothing inspired Ron more than musicians who made sacrifices for their art, and he generously supported several of them in need. His love of reading included a mix of fiction and history. His sprawling library included many a paperback Dick Francis thriller stacked next to densely-written leather tomes on the American Civil War.

From an inauspicious 6th grade prognosis, Ron proved his intellectual mettle over the course of a rich life. He pursued every passion with intensity; reading voraciously, practicing diligently, befriending mentors for insights and support. His genuine excitement and curiosity inspired all who met this captivating man. He will be sorely missed by his family and many friends.

Ron was preceded in death by his beloved wife Marie-Madeleine and many faithful dogs and horses. He is survived by his four children, ten grand-children, two great grand-children and his two parakeets, Tommy and Paula, named after his long-time bookstore friends.