IN REMEMBRANCE
IN REMEMBRANCE : BENJAMIN RIGOR , MD 10 / 13 / 36-12 / 11 / 21
While en route to take a flight back to Louisville , at 5:02 a . m . PST , last Dec . 11 , I received a heart-breaking text : “ Tito Ben is now in heaven .”
“ Tito ” is “ Uncle ” in Filipino . That is what Dr . Rigor chose , or decided to be , to me , though we are not related by blood or marriage . I will never fully understand why I got so lucky : only how grateful I was , how I am , and how I will forever be .
Dr . Rigor was the Chair of the Anesthesia Department at the University of Texas at Houston in 1979 when my father was being treated at the MD Anderson Cancer Center . None of his residents or staff physicians could successfully provide the regional anesthesia my father required , so he was called upon each time another procedure was warranted .
Dr . Rigor jogged my father ’ s memory about having been under his tutelage as a medical student rotating in cardiology at the University of the East in the Philippines in the early 1960s . My father , in turn , chatted that his youngest daughter , soon to graduate from medical school at the University of the Philippines , was interested in going into anesthesia . Dr . Rigor promised him that he would help in any way he could , although he had yet to meet me .
Several years later , as a resident at the University of Louisville ’ s Department of Anesthesiology , where Dr . Rigor was Chair for two decades , I was dismayed to learn that my father had been unreasonably hard on Dr . Rigor . I discovered that Dr . Rigor ’ s extraordinary typing skills were a direct result of my father ’ s burdensome mentorship . He could not read Dr . Rigor ’ s handwriting , so he demanded that Dr . Rigor type up all his patients ’ progress notes !
The way that Dr . Rigor chose to be sincerely kind , welcoming , supportive and caring to all , even to those who might have been less so to him , is a true hallmark of his amazing , prolific life of 85 years . His tremendous local and international accomplishments , awards and recognition are numerous , and while the more notable ones are mentioned in his obituary , www . courier-journal . com / obituaries / lcj239357 , the impressively lengthy list falls short of describing how Dr . Rigor , while leading with confidence and dedication , remained humble and unassuming . He was always sociable and ever approachable . He loved to tell jokes , loved the microphone , and yet knew to stop when his devoted wife and true partner , Violeta , signaled him to “ wrap it up ” at their 60th wedding anniversary celebration .
That stunning list is also more meaningful when adding just a few of many sentiments expressed by his students , and all those fortunate to have had a front seat to any part of Dr . Rigor ’ s life :
“ He gave me a chance and believed that I could succeed when no one else did .”
“ He gave a lot of people a second chance .”
“ No one ever looked out for us as much as he did . He was very protective of us .”
“ We owe our success to him .”
“ He made me feel welcomed ; Louisville became home .”
Tito Ben , you are greatly missed . I hope I told you enough how much you meant to me and my family . Thank you for teaching me how to be good , how to do good and how to pay it forward . -M . Regina B . Puno , MD
Dr . Rigor was a GLMS member for 40 years .
26 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE