First gastroenterologist at Alexian Brothers
Around the halls of Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, Dr. Thomas P. Thomas was known for wearing a fresh boutonniere in his lapel, daily.
Frequently, it was a rose grown in his own garden, colleagues say, and when he neglected to wear one, patients noticed.
"They'd call down to the gift shop and order him one," says his wife, Donna.
But Dr. Thomas held a place of distinction within the hospital's history beyond his penchant for flowers. He was the first gastroenterologist on its staff, arriving three years after the hospital opened, and he helped develop the hospital's GI department.
Dr. Thomas passed away Thursday. The former Palatine resident, most recently of Inverness, was 78.
"He was the first gastroenterologist west of (Advocate) Lutheran General (Hospital)," Donna Thomas adds. "I can remember the days when if he needed a certain kind of scope, he'd have to drive to Lutheran General to get one, and then drive back to do the test, and drive it all the way back."
Within two years of arriving at Alexian Brothers, the medical center worked with Dr. Thomas to design their department, including training the nursing staff and obtaining all of its own scopes and instruments.
"He was very competent, and very dedicated," says Dr. Salvador Barrocas, former medical department chairman, and gastroenterology colleague. "He was always in the hospital checking up on his patients, and he was always smiling.
"With the boutonniere in his lapel," Dr. Barrocas adds, "he just had a certain flair about him."
Dr. Thomas grew up in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where his father owned a rubber plantation. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a botanist, family members say, but instead he attended Trivandrum Medical College.
He came to this country in 1960, after doing his residency in Canada. Dr. Thomas began his career in cardiology, and he served as a fellow in the field at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he was one of three physicians to set up one of the first dedicated cardiac care units in the country.
From 1965 to 1967, Dr. Thomas studied at Northwestern University to specialize in gastroenterology, before starting on the staffs at St. Joseph and Sherman hospitals in Elgin.
A serious heart diagnosis forced Dr. Thomas to retire from medicine in 1981, but he kept busy with his gardening, and writing, aided by his involvement with the Barrington Writers' Workshop.
Family members say he wrote short fiction pieces and children's stories, including some in his native language of Malayalam. Aside from one published in a collection published by the Barrington Writers' Workshop, he never pursued having any of his works published.
However, his wife and son, Thomas, hope to investigate the possibility of seeing his stories in print, as a legacy for his two grandchildren, Michael and Abigail.
Services have been held.