The legacy of Clarence H. Heyman, MD 1916, continues to make an impact more than 60 years after his passing. Remembered as a kind-hearted and gentle man, Heyman was not only a dedicated clinician but also a passionate advocate for people with disabilities. His life was a testament to the power of compassion and education in medicine.
Born in the village of Paulding, Ohio, Heyman attended Harvard Medical School before honing his skills as a resident surgeon at Boston City Hospital, a former public hospital in Boston’s South End. He joined the Army Medical Corps during World War I and eventually returned to Ohio, where he settled in Cleveland. There, he made indelible strides as an orthopedic surgeon and served as a clinical instructor at Western Reserve University between 1924 and 1958.
Heyman’s personal life was marked by both joy and sorrow. He married Olive M. Chapman in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1918, and together they welcomed four children into the world. However, tragedy struck when they lost their son John at just 2 years old, followed by the news that their son William was lost at sea during the Normandy landings of World War II.
In 1946, Heyman thoughtfully devised a strategy to secure his family’s financial future and to support causes close to his heart by using various estate planning tools. HMS recently benefited from this foresight, receiving more than $660,000 from the Clarence H. Heyman Trust. This bequest is designated for unrestricted use, allowing the dean to allocate funds in the most effective ways, such as enhancing students’ experiences through social opportunities and mental health resources and integrating emerging technologies across all departments to improve health care delivery.
“Unrestricted giving is essential, as it enables us to seize emerging opportunities and pursue scholarship and discovery wherever they may lead us,” says HMS Dean George Q. Daley, AB ’82, MD ’91, PhD.
Through this gift, Heyman’s dedication to medicine and humanity lives on, fostering advancements that will continue to touch countless lives.
Unrestricted giving is essential, as it enables us to seize emerging opportunities and pursue scholarship and discovery wherever they may lead us.
George Q. Daley