Sept. 30, 1933 Oct. 7, 2014

Dr. Franklin Zeplowitz, former chief of staff at Our Lady of Victory Hospital and past president of the Erie County Medical Association, died Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland following a short illness. He was 81.

Dr. Zeplowitz was a lifelong Buffalonian. He earned his bachelors and medical degrees from the University of Buffalo, graduating from medical school in 1958, and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. From 1959 to 1970, he was a captain in the New York National Guard Medical Corps, and from 1962-63 he was chief resident in surgery at the Youngstown Hospital Association in Youngstown, Ohio.

Dr. Zeplowitz, a general and pediatric surgeon, joined the staff at OLV in 1963. He was president of its medical and dental staff in 1980-81 and vice president of medical affairs and chief of staff from 1994 until the hospital was closed in 2000. He also practiced at Mercy, Buffalo General and Women & Childrens hospitals, where he maintained emeritus staff status. After OLV closed, Dr. Zeplowitz continued work as a private medical consultant.

Also, in 1990, he was appointed to the faculty of the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Dr. Zeplowitz was a member of several professional organizations. He was a past president of the Buffalo Surgical Society as well as the Erie County Medical Association; past chairman of the Governing Board of the James Platt White Society of the UB Medical School, and a member of the UB Medical School Alumni Association and the American Medical Association. He was a state alternate delegate to the AMA from 1998 to 2005 and was a tireless advocate for patients rights.

My father put patients first, second and third, said his son, David Zeplowitz.

Dr. Zeplowitz also was a member of Temple Beth Zion and Temple Beth Tzedek.

Besides his son, he is survived by his wife of 52 years, the former Piera Salama; and his daughter, Lynn.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Sunday at Temple Beth Zion, 80 Delaware Ave.

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Dr. Franklin Zeplowitz, surgeon, UB professor