A Great Man, A Great Life

By Michael C. Glafkides, M.D.

Constantine M. Glafkides

Dr. Constantine M. Glafkides, a peninsula internist for 40 years who treated thousands of patients, died January 2, 2005, of complications from leukemia at the age of 80.

He was an extraordinary physician who devoted his entire professional life to helping his patients achieve a better quality of life. This earned him the love and respect of his patients, and love is what best describes how his family, friends, and colleagues felt about my father.

Con was a San Francisco native. His parents were Greek immigrants who instilled their traditional values in their children and worked hard to help them become successful professionals. Dad was a spirited and fun-loving boy and enjoyed telling stories of his youth playing in Golden Gate Park and Playland by the Sea, working in his father’s grocery on 6th Street, walking across the Golden Gate Bridge at its opening in 1937, and serving as an altar boy at the Greek Orthodox Church. A near death experience as a young boy, when he was struck by a car and treated by caring physicians, inspired him to become a doctor.

Con attended Lowell High School and was the starting offensive tackle on the 1941 AAA championship team. His studies in physiology at UC Berkeley were cut short when he enlisted in the Navy to serve in WWII. He was a “90-Day Wonder,” training in Chicago where he earned his commission as a naval officer. He served in the amphibious forces of the pacific fleet and commanded a landing craft infantry with the rank of Lieutenant Senior Grade.

After the war, Dad returned to Cal, earning his bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in physiology. He went on to teach at Wayne State University in Michigan and at UCSF Medical Center. Teaching medical students day after day only intensified his desire to become a doctor. His dream was fulfilled when he completed his medical degree in 1956 at UCSF. He was president of his medical school class and did his internship at San Francisco General Hospital. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Highland Hospital in Oakland, where he was voted the most outstanding resident,  1959-1960. A consummate student of physical diagnosis, Con was quick to use everything available at that time to treat his patients, including the iron lung. He would assist in surgery when his patients required it and became friends with the surgical residents at Highland, one of whom was Jim Hansen.

Dad began his medical practice in San Bruno in 1960, joining with Martin Kohn and Jack Posnick. His affability and diagnostic ability quickly established him as an exceptional internist. As the practice grew, Arthur Collom, Jerry Kaplan, Stanley Nudelman, Peter Grossman, and Steven Raffin joined the group. Busting at the seams of their little offices on San Bruno Avenue, they took the bold step of building their own medical center on Sneath Lane during a time of double-digit inflation. Having faced tough challenges in his early years, Dad was unfazed and led the group, securing the land and loans, erecting the building, and opening the medical center in 1982. They recruited specialists in general surgery, orthopaedic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, ENT surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry, podiatry, dentistry, urology, and plastic surgery. This was a unique outpatient medical clinic, where outstanding physicians joined together to provide quality medical care to patients. Along with his partners and other physicians in the community, they developed Bay Pacific Health Plan, one of the first HMOs in the Bay Area, of which Dad was the chairman of the Board in 1984.

As everyone knew, Dad was a vigorous supporter of the medical community. He was president of the San Mateo County Medical Society, 1977-1978, and encouraged young physicians who came to the peninsula, referring patients to help them build their practices. He often said to me, “Mike, there is always room for another good physician in our community.” When people ask me why I went into medicine, I reply that it is because of the example set by my father in his personal and professional life. He loved his life and chose to be a person who gave unselfishly to all who needed him. Despite his active medical practice, he was a devoted husband and father. Camping trips, river rafting, home renovation projects, skiing outings, football and baseball games, golf, gardening, science projects, and school activities were but a few of the things we enjoyed together as a family. He was team doctor for my high school football squad, volunteered to give physicals to students, and was a second father to many of my friends who called on him for advice and guidance. Who could forget his cheerful attitude, his eternal optimism, his roaring belly laugh when telling a joke, his firm handshake and commanding presence, his decisiveness, his kind and gentle nature, his humility, and his ability to befriend people from every walk of life. He cared for his patients as if they were family members and gave them respect, love, and compassion. Patients would enter his office upset and concerned about their health and leave laughing and happy with his treatment and reassurances, and a dose of his humor. He was truly a healer who treated medical problems, mended relationships, and looked deeply into the souls of his patients to help them live better lives.

Although educated as a man of science, Dad was a devout member of the Greek Orthodox Church. He was a spiritual person who believed deeply in God, and his faith guided him throughout his life. He was honored by being chosen the personal physician to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Demetrios, the equivalent of the Pope, during his tour through California in the 1990s.

During the past five years, Dad faced difficult health problems; but true to his nature, he endured every procedure and treatment regimen with strength, courage, grace, and good humor. He never gave up, he never complained, and he never lost faith in the physicians and nurses who cared for him. In return, they never faltered; they gave him life and time to witness the births and baptisms of his grandchildren, to dance with his wife, Mary, at their 50th wedding anniversary, to see his grandchildren excel in school and sports, to toast his daughter at her wedding, and to celebrate his 80th birthday with his family. For those and other wonderful experiences shared with Dad, we owe a special thanks to Mary Brzostowicz, Peter Grossman, John Siebel, Mike Turbow, Tak Poon, Stephen Hurst, Philip Bernstein, Randy Wong, Aitan Melamud, Mark Rosenberg, Harcharan Gill, and the nurses of the 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 8th floors, and of the Mills rehab and the dialysis center. They treated my dad with respect, kindness, and love, and used all their healing powers to pull him through some rough times.

My father lived a wonderful life, achieved his fondest dreams, and was surrounded by family and friends who admired, respected, and loved him. A friend and colleague was asked to describe Dad at a retirement dinner. He responded by quoting Shakespeare: “His life was gentle, and the elements so mix’d in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, This Was A Great Man!” 

Dr. Michael Glafkides is a plastic surgeon in San Bruno and Mountain View.