 PAUL HARTMAN D'AMATO, MD, FACC Dr. Paul H. D'Amato, 76, of Atlanta, GA, passed away peacefully in his home on August 31, 2019 from complications of Parkinson's Disease. Paul, an only child, was born in Tacoma Park, Maryland. His father, August M. D'Amato, was from Sulmona, Italy, and his Mother, Sylvia (Sluva) Hartman D'Amato, was from Proskurov, Ukraine (now Khmelnytskyi by the Buh River). His Mother instilled in her son the love of science and reading and would take him to her job at the Smithsonian Museum where she worked in the Botany Department. Paul tells a story of reading every book in his community library where the librarian would save all the new books for him to read first. His father, a former boxer, cyclist and barber, instilled in him the enjoyment of sports and the virtues of hard work. August later opened "Paul's Hardware Store" in the Mount Pleasant area of Washington, DC. Paul was a fan of all sports, especially fishing. When his parents moved to Kensington, MD, he attended Kensington Elementary School. He graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Montgomery County, MD. Starting in junior high school and continuing through high school, Paul and numerous friends organized a jazz band and played at schools and local clubs. Paul played clarinet and saxophone. Because Paul was tall, he also played a self-taught version of the base fiddle. He especially admired and enjoyed the sounds of jazz musicians such as Clifford Brown, Charlie Byrd, Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson and many others. After high school, Paul attended Rutgers College in New Jersey. He was a member and social chairman of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. One of his part time jobs was as broadcaster on the Rutgers Radio Station with local and national news, sports play by play and rock and roll music. His most memorable and sad broadcast, involving an "all-nighter," was on 11/22/1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. After he graduated from Rutgers with a BA in Bacteriology, he attended medical school at George Washington University School of Medicine (GWUSM) where he graduated with distinction and won numerous graduate awards in research, medical writing, cardiology, general medicine and obstetrics (he delivered more babies than any other medical student in his class or previous classes). In 1969, while at GWUSM, he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, a prestigious organization for exceptional students. In 1968, he married Cheryl L. Ellsworth (from Murrysville, PA), whom he had met on a blind date to a football game between George Washington University and the University of West Virginia. He appreciated her music and art interests and she enjoyed his scientific and medical interests. During their life together, they intertwined their interests to make each other's lives more interesting and happier. After a medical internship in Gainesville, FL., Paul, with Cheryl and their new son, spent three short years with the United States Airforce in Aviano, Italy. Paul was a general medical officer, starting as a 1stt Lieutenant in his last year of medical school and returning to the USA as Major. They traveled extensively on military planes when allowed - they were barred from travel if the plane carried paint or bombs! They wanted to learn as much about each culture as they could, especially the history, people, food and wine! The family then returned to live in Silver Spring, Maryland, where Paul completed two years of residency training in internal medicine and another year of cardiology fellowship at GWUSM. Maryland was also where their daughter was born. During his medical training, he was a researcher, authoring and co-authoring numerous articles and participating in a multitude of medical studies. After completing his training, he went into private cardiology practice at the Wilson Clinic in Wilson, N.C. (Near Raleigh). Several years later, he was then hired to be a cardiologist at Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, LA where the entire family enjoyed the local history, food, music, Le Petit Theatre Du Vieux Carre and Mardi Gras festivities. He then took a position at the Veteran's Administration Medical Center (VAMC) under Emory University School of Medicine (EUSM) until he was recruited to become the Division. of Cardiology at the Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) in Macon, GA (a dept. of "one" for the early years when MUSM-was starting out). In 2000, he moved back to Atlanta and primarily worked at Grady Hospital, under Emory, as a teacher of Cardiology and Director of the Echo Dept. He retired in 2013. Over the years he was a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, (FACC), the Council on Clinical Cardiology with the American Heart Association, a member of the American Society of Echocardiography and Nuclear Cardiology and numerous other medical organizations in the four states where he was licensed to practice medicine. He loved collecting old medical books and participating in discussions at the Atlanta Medical History Society. The philosophy of Sir William Osler was a favorite, so much so that he insisted on naming a family cat "Osler". He is remembered as a well-respected clinician, researcher and teaching cardiologist. Of all his experience in medicine, he most enjoyed teaching interns and residents the art of medicine, medical history and cardiology. He excelled at finding "zebras" (unusual outcomes in a patient's medical mysteries) and guiding medical students to incorporate many avenues in their quest to solve their patient's problems. While he didn't enjoy the infirmities of his later years, he did enjoy discussing his medical problems with many of those whom he trained, joking that he had now graduated from physician to patient. Paul is remembered as a loving and generous husband, father and grandfather. He loved to read and listen to music (jazz, country, blues, opera and symphonic). He also liked gardening, mowing the back field in Macon, GA with his John Deere tractor, fishing and shooting sporting clays. He excelled in the art of discussion from many viewpoints, world history, politics, and played with solving world problems. British comedies, mysteries and travel were enjoyed, and his encyclopedic brain was unparalleled in the game of trivia. His passion for photography grew from a seed in his early years, when his Mother took him to museums in Washington DC. His photography won him awards, especially for his black and white photos perfecting the entropy of rural and rustic images. His photographic philosophy was, "I would like for my images to evoke a sense of place or 'mood' in the observer. The images may include suggestions of permanence or transience; ideally, perhaps, there should be an element of both. I am not looking to evoke motion. I prefer to document a pause." Dr. Anthony Bannon, the seventh director of the George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film described Paul's photography as "A lovely tone poem…as we look at the notational structure of the chords that you are playing, you have invited in the clarity of its music…to look inside and find unique attributes that we merit as being intrinsically or esthetically worthy." Paul leaves his wife of 51 years, Cheryl L. Ellsworth D'Amato, their son, William A. D'Amato (Karen Morey), their daughter, Noelle L. (Michael Blum) and three beautiful, rambunctious grandchildren. Paul was predeceased by his parents. A memorial celebrating Paul's life will be held on Sunday, October 20, 2019 from 6:00-9:00 PM. Address: Park Central Condominiums, 1101 Juniper St., NE, Atlanta, GA 30309. Paul's ashes will be buried during a small family gathering at his wife's family cemetery in early Spring 2020 near Kittanning, PA, as well as Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, MA. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial gifts to either of the following: (1) East Union Cemetery, C/o Dan Rice, 1900 Mulberry Rd., Cherry Tree, PA 15724, 817-743-5594 (2) Salem UCC Cemetery fund, 116 Hills Church Rd., Kittanning, PA 16201 (3) Salem United Church of Christ, same address as Cemetery (4) "Movement Disorders - Parkinson's Program", Emory Brain Center, Attn: Dr. Stewart Factor/TammyJo, 12 Executive Park Drive, NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, 404-712-6990.
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