Dr. Richard Milazzo

Editor’s note: This eulogy was written and read at the funeral of Dr. Richard Milazzo by Maureen McGraw Stegle, who was a registered nurse at Brooks Memorial Hospital from 1973 to 2007.

By MAUREEN McGRAW STEGLE

I worked on 3A, a medical/surgical floor, the Intensive Care Unit, and the Emergency Room.

It was my privilege to have worked with Dr. Richard Milazzo over these many years and over many patients. He was my medical colleague, my doctor, and above all else, my dear friend. It is my honor to tell you this story of a true hero in the medical profession and in life itself. There will never be another one like him.

“YOUNG MILAZZO”

It was the summer of 1973 and the city of Dunkirk — especially Brooks Memorial Hospital — were anticipating the arrival of the newest member of its medical staff. For months “the talk of the town” centered around the new doctor setting up his office and opening his practice.

His reputation preceded him … he was smart, even brilliant, had been the Chief Resident at Meyer Memorial Hospital in Internal Medicine … and was the son of “OLD” Dr. Richard Milazzo Sr., a well-known practicing urologist in the community.

Who was this Superman? None other than Dr. Richard Milazzo Jr. The locals were beside themselves and in an unheard of event “Young Milazzo” hung his “shingle” out with a practice that was booked solid from day one and beyond!

“Young” Dr. Milazzo earned his reputation as a great doctor from the minute he walked in the hospital. He was busy all the time. Not only did he have office hours four days a week, but a full schedule seeing his medical/surgical inpatients on two floors each split into sections: 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B; there were also patients to care for in the four-bed Intensive Care Unit; in addition, he was also required to take turns with his fellow Internal Medicine colleagues, covering a two-week rotation as “Medical Doctor on Call” in the ER

Being medical on call often meant having to leave patients in the office to run to the ER to treat a very sick patient. This happened because back in the day, there was no actual doctor in the ER; the ER nurses evaluated the patient and hunted down the patient’s doctor for orders to treat until he got to the ER. This left office patients backed up until late afternoon and into early evening. Then there were evening rounds to check on hospital patients again before finally heading home…But WAIT! You can’t go home yet! It’s the ER calling! There’s a patient for you to see that’s a possible admission!

It is little wonder that this punishing pace wore “Young Milazzo” down. The winter and flu season were especially punishing.

There were days Dr. Milazzo was visibly exhausted, actually sicker than some of his patients, and looked like he could use a bed in the hospital. Yes,on rare occasions he was so sick he HAD to stay home, but many many times he came to work, regardless, because other doctors were sick, too, and there was no one left to care for the patients.

The Intensive Care Unit was Dr. Milazzo’s favorite. In 1973 it was a four-bed unit … pretty small … but some of the magic that was worked in that unit was amazing. Dr. Milazzo was the Director of ICU. He brought the care to a new level. He was not only a great doctor to his patients, but treated the nursing staff with a level of respect we had never experienced. He was a great teacher, explaining procedures and the “whys” of treatment in ways that were easy to understand and apply to everyday patient care.

We learned cardiac care, and how to read cardiac monitors. He was kind, caring, and supportive to us. He knew how hard we worked and was always quick to give us an appreciative word of confidence. Everyone loved Dr. Milazzo.

He enriched our professional lives in wonderful ways and lifted each of us up individually and personally. No question we asked him was considered unimportant. He was humble, always kind, easy to talk with, and approachable with any nursing problem. He was funny and could always make a patient .. .and a nurse smile. In later years, with new hospital construction, Rich would guide the development of a new 10-bed ICU.

Dr. Milazzo was always willing to help us … his specialty was Internal Medicine but if we were desperate for help in the ER, and he just happened to be in the hospital, he was the one we called for help. When Dr. Milazzo was paged STAT to the ER he never called to inquire about the patient, he just showed up to help for whatever the emergency happened to be.

One time, shortly after I had started in the ER, a patient arrived who was having a heart attack. He did not have a doctor and it was my job to get him one. I was supposed to follow the medical on call schedule, But, I knew Rich was the best guy for the job so I paged him STAT to the ER. He came, took one look at the semi-responsive patient and said: “Are you sure he’s a patient of mine?” I crossed my fingers and said: “All I can say is his last words were “Call Milazzo!” so I guess he’s your patient now!”

Rich just shook his head and went to work caring for the patient who ended up in ICU. Now that I think about it, he used to shake his head a lot when I took care of his patients!

One day after a similar occurrence, he asked me how I thought of doing these things. I said: “Rich, I only have one thought in mind. What is the best thing I can do for this patient? It’s a no-brainer. That’s why I call YOU!” We remembered that story and laughed about it when we had breakfast after Mass last Sunday (Sept. 22).

Rich never refused to help us, no matter the patient’s age or problem. One day I called him for help in the ER … an 8-month old patient was in trouble. Rich looked like he was going to fall over when he saw the little infant on the cart … but he stayed with us and talked with the baby’s doctor to get him to come in to care for the child.

Another time in ICU he got the desperate call from me again. I had a young 25-year-old patient who had been sick for a long time.

His surgeon had left the hospital for home. I was flushing his stomach with ice water to hopefully stop the bleeding but it was not helping. I was never so happy to see anyone in my life than Rich Milazzo when he walked in and assessed the situation with me. The patient’s doctor was notified again and again. God love Rich…he hung in there with me for at least 1 ½ hours until the surgeon finally showed up and the patient was taken directly to surgery.

One day in the ER I needed to talk with him about a patient of his, and yes, this really was HIS patient! The ER doctor had seen him and wanted to admit him. This was before the days of cell phones…Rich had a beeper. I paged him and left a message to call me in the ER. No response…15 minutes later I beeped him again: “Rich! I know you’re in this hospital, call me!” No response…beeped him again: “Rich…don’t make me come and hunt you down!” Literally 5 seconds later he calls laughing hysterically along with the nurses in ICU. He said: “I didn’t answer because I just wanted to hear what you were going to say in your next message!” He had such a great sense of humor!

Lest you think Dr. Milazzo was all work and no play, it’s time to reveal his all time favorite sport … bike riding! And ride and ride he did … everywhere! He was a familiar sight on the roads, peddling locally and way beyond for over 50 years, traveling through most of Chautauqua County, during every season. Most of the doctors had a parking spot at the hospital. Rich had a bike rack at the bottom of the ER ramp. When the weather was bad he’d park it inside the hospital!

During the summer of 1973 Dr. Milazzo and his friend, John Schwanekamp, rode what became the First “Bicycle Tour de Chautauqua” to the Hotel Lenhart in Bemus Point. They had such a good time the boys were joined in 1974 by Dr. Zolt Szekely, Rich Goodman and Steve Warner for a longer “tour.” One hundred miles was the limit per day! This time there was an injury to report. The bikers were on their way to Salamanca … they could not ride from Jamestown to Salamanca on Interstate 86 so they took old Route 17 which was officially closed to traffic through the reservation. There were ruts and gaps in old pavement sections. Dr. Milazzo’s front wheel got caught in one of them and sent him flying, lacerating his knee. The injury was dirty and nasty.

He was unable to ride the distance to Salamanca. Fortunately, members of the Seneca Nation came along, loaded him and his bike in their patrol truck and took him to Salamanca General Hospital where he was stitched up by Dr. Gutierrez, the ER physician, whom of course, he knew from medical school! The Senecas were very kind to help, considering the bikers were trespassing on posted land! Best part of the story is that Rich recovered to ride again!

Besides being a marathon bike rider, Rich had many other talents…and they were NOT hidden!! He was a wonderful guitar player, composer of his own original song accompanied by hysterically funny lyrics (“Bob’s Buns”), had a great voice, and sang in the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton choir for years “after Maureen roped me into singing at the Christmas Eve Mass, and then bailed on me!” Pressed into service at a family talent night number, Rich was dressed up to play the part of Dr. Mosher in a routine…surgical scrubs, cap, glasses, mustache and of course, a cigar. Like everything else he did, he played his part perfectly and had everyone rolling in the isles with laughter.

Rich Milazzo was not “just” a doctor to his patients. He didn’t have friends, he had fans! They all loved him. Rich became my doctor, then my Mom’s and then my Dad’s. Mom absolutely loved Rich, and one day asked if she could “adopt” him.

Rich, being the wonderful guy he was, said “of course.” From that day on Rich became Mom’s “son,” and as a result, an official member of our family. She was so proud to have a doctor in the family and always introduced him as “my son, the doctor!” Rich treated her like a queen.

When I took Mom for her checkups she would always ask Rich if he noticed anything “new and different” about her? He knew what was coming and always played along, denying anything out of the ordinary.

Mom would pretend to be all upset that he didn’t notice her efforts…“What do you mean you can’t tell? I dressed up and put a bra on for my visit today!” He came to birthday parties, anniversary parties, talent night parties, picnics…mostly at my house. At one of the picnics I told him to look around to see if anything looked familiar? “Nothing,” he said.

I said: “Rich! This party looks like your waiting room! All of these people are your patients!!”

He laughed and laughed. He probably had half of Dunkirk-Fredonia in his office at one time or another! When Rich went on vacation, some of his patients refused to see anyone else in his absence…even to their own detriment. One day I triaged a patient I knew very well. She was in extreme respiratory distress. I asked why she waited so long to get help…she said she didn’t like the doctor she was supposed to go to and thought she could hold out until Rich returned! I said: “He’s not due back for a week!” She recovered, but only after a few days in ICU.

The many acts of kindness and instances where Rich went “over and above” are legendary … stories of figuring out what was wrong with a patient that no one else was able to do, checking a patient and finding just the slightest abnormality that led to discovering a serious condition and eventually a cure.

No one will ever know all he did to help others … and he would never want us to know … but God does … and He has everyone of them written in His book … the home visits, the house calls he made out of the blue and from the goodness of his heart, the stops to dying patients to comfort and encourage them, or to just hold their hand for one last time. I know first hand about two of those last visits because they were to my Mom and Dad.

Rich’s generosity to others also extended itself outside of the United States. He once made a trip to Honduras to bring medical care and medicine to those with nothing. By all accounts, it was a very very dangerous trip. God is good and we were blessed to get him back home safe and sound.

Life is definitely unpredictable. It is sprinkled with uncertainty, unimaginable joy, over the top happiness and at times heartbreakingly painful difficulties. I thank God for His everlasting Presence in our lives and His great gift of FAITH to believe in things we cannot see or humanly comprehend. I’ve always believed that God puts us with the people He wants us to be with, in His time, and for His purpose, according to the Plan He has for each of us. I thank God every day for blessing us with 80 years worth of the presence and goodness of Rich Milazzo in our lives.

Having been raised above the McGraw Funeral Home, my Mom always told us that when God calls, you come…your life’s work is over and all the “treasure” you can take is the love you gave and your good works performed on earth. I have no doubt God was there to help Rich carry all of his.

Picture this…It is Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. The word is out! HE’S COMING!! There’s a stampede to Heaven’s Gate. St. Peter has to stand aside to avoid getting trampled. Everyone who Rich has ever loved, known, met, cared for, taken care of, or worked over, is running to meet him. They are all fighting over who will be the FIRST to hug him and welcome him to his Heavenly Home…this day receiving his eternal reward for his steadfast faith and all the good he has done on earth. Now, at last, and safe in the arms of Jesus, Dr. Richard Milazzo, Jr. is “Young Milazzo” once again.