Obituary Printed for the Memorial Service

Kathleen Byers Lindsey 1916-2012

Below is what we sent to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. We also sent a shorter version of this and that is what they published as an obit. However, the longer version was in the program given out at the Memorial Service. The image of the version in the memorial service and also the program is on a separate Post.

Kathleen Byers-Lindsey, M.D., 95, Atlanta’s First Female Board Certified Anesthesiologist

Dr. Kathleen Byers-Lindsey, 95, died peacefully on Saturday, Feb. 11th surrounded by family. Dr Byers was honored in late 2011 at a reception for Medical College of Georgia alumni in Atlanta. At the time of her being honored in 2011, she said, “I don’t know if pioneer is the word or not. The time had a lot to do with it…I’m just happy to have done something that I enjoyed doing for so long.” It was only the latest recognition for a lifetime of service for this modest pioneer in medicine.The daughter of telegraphers with Southern Railway Co., Kathleen chose to go to medical school at the Medical College of Georgia and graduated in 1943, one of only three women in that class. The country was at war and new doctors had their pick of where to go. Kathleen chose to go to New York City to do an internship at Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital. During her internship, she became interested in anesthesiology. She completed a residency in that specialty at the Bellevue Hospital, studying with Dr. Emery Rovenstine, founder of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, who also taught her colleague, Dr. Perry Volpitto, who was the first Chairman of Anesthesiology at the Medical College of Georgia, the first academic anesthesiology department in the South.She practiced briefly at the Baptist Hospital in New Orleans and then returned to Atlanta in1947 to work as a staff anesthesiologist at Piedmont Hospital. She became board certified in Anesthesiology in March of 1952, one of the first female board certified anesthesiologists in the U.S. and the first in Atlanta, Ga.Later in her career, Dr. Byers-Lindsey worked as a rating board physician for the U.S. Veteran’s Administration and later as a part time reviewer for the Georgia Department of Human Services. She retired from the latter position in October 2004 at the age of 88.From 2001 until the time of her death, she resided at The Lenbrook, a retirement community in Buckhead. She married the late William John Lindsey, a pharmacist, in 1948. She was the mother of two children, Patricia Ann Weiss, and the late John Byers Lindsey. She is survived by Patricia Ann, who lives in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband, Martin Weiss, and two grandchildren, Tamara Elizabeth Weiss of Ramat Gan, Israel and George Arthur Weiss of Potomac.