Feb. 11, 1915 - July 8, 2012

July 12, 2012 12:18 am

By Elizabeth Bloom/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Milton Bosse, a doctor who served as chairman of West Penn Hospital's pathology department, researched polio and mustard gas poisoning during World War II and served patients in Pitcairn for 55 years, died Sunday of a recurrence of hemorrhagic stroke. He was 97.

Dr. Bosse was born on Feb. 11, 1915, in Kansas, where his father was a grain elevator owner. After attending the University of Kansas for undergraduate studies and medical school, he came to Pittsburgh for a residency in pathology in 1938. He never stopped practicing in Pennsylvania until retiring in 1995 at age 80.

Known for regularly putting in 80-hour work weeks, he frequently made house calls while conducting a family practice in Pitcairn. He also helped establish the polio research laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh, which was later headed by Jonas Salk.

While working on research to treat mustard gas poisoning, he met Barbara Cramer Flinn, whom he married in 1946 and with whom he had three children. The couple lived in Monroeville and Churchill until 2004, when they moved to Centre County. Mrs. Bosse died in May.

In an article published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1995 announcing Dr. Bosse's retirement, he said, "I knew this was right for me," gesturing to his examining room.

He ran his father's grain company from afar until his mother's death. He enjoyed cycling in his spare time.

His civic life included elderships at Bethel United Presbyterian Church and State College Presbyterian Church and a 49-year perfect attendance record at the Monroeville Rotary Club.

Read more from the original source:
Obituary: Milton Bosse / Retired chair of West Penn's pathology department