Artemio T Ordinario, M.D. 1939–2012

Artemio (“Temy”) T. Ordinario, Associate Editor of this Journal for tropical neurology, died in Quezon City, Philippines, on March 6, 2012, at the age of 72. He had a distinguished career in neurology and neuropathology that began in 1968 after he completed a neurology residency at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, IL, USA. We first met in 1966 and shared many rotations at the affiliated hospitals of Northwestern, including the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Hines, IL. It is there where Temy and I learnt neuropathology from Dr Kevin D Barron who thought that neurology and neuropathology were inseparable and that neurologists should know a lot about nerve cells and glia. Temy and I became life-long friends, and he was a most gracious host during my visits to Manila and other cities in the Philippines. Temy was very devoted to his alma mater, the University of Santo Tomás, and, despite his reputation as a rebel, cherished the Spanish heritage of the university and the country. He did not hesitate to take on the administrators of Santo Tomás when he felt that they departed from the charitable mission of the medical school. He became chairman of the Department of Neurology and later a full-time faculty member who was also in charge of neuropathology. Many current neurologists in the Philippines received their neurological training by Dr Ordinario, and he had numerous devoted friends at home and abroad. In 1972, he was elected as the first president of the neurology specialty board of the then Philippine Neurology Association. His outstanding human warmth was legendary, and his enthusiasm for our specialty was evident when he arranged presentations by invited speakers. No one came late or left early, and it was remarkable that members of the audience would ask the lecturer to continue beyond his or her allotted time. Temy combined his great hospitality with outstanding culinary knowledge, and sharing lunch or dinner with him was always a most enjoyable experience. Temy and his wife Estelita (“Lita”) who preceded him in death had 4 children, and three have become physicians. Temy and Lita were a remarkable couple, and I recall with great admiration that during my visit to Manila in 1991 Lita had traveled to the region around Mount Pinatubo to help in the relief effort following the volcanic eruption. Temy and Lita gave me “Noli Me Tangere” (Berlin 1887) by José Rizal. Rizal was an alumnus of Santo Tomás medical school, and is regarded by many as the father of the Philippine Republic. I cherish this book in Spanish because it reminds me in many ways of Temy's thoughts on the human condition: be independent and devoted to a righteous cause even if it inconveniences others. Hughlings Jackson described humor as an expression of abundant intelligence. Temy surely had both. He and Percival Salazar compiled a book on Pinoy humor (ISBN 978-971-91946-6-8). Written in English and Tagalog, it gives us some consolation while we mourn the passing of a beloved friend and colleague.