Jerry A. Shields, world-renowned pioneering director emeritus of the Ocular Oncology Service at Wills Eye Hospital, has died at 88
His research on eye cancer was groundbreaking, and he and his wife, Carol, turned the nascent Ocular Oncology Service at Wills into the world’s top eye cancer center.
Jerry A. Shields, 88, of Bryn Mawr, world-renowned pioneering director emeritus of the Ocular Oncology Service at Wills Eye Hospital, former professor of ophthalmology at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, trailblazing ocular researcher, prolific author, mentor, and Vietnam veteran, died Sunday, June 22, of complications from a stroke at his home.
Dr. Shields was holding hands with his wife and longtime Wills codirector, Carol. “He was my soulmate,” she said.
For 44 years, from his creation of the Ocular Oncology Service at Wills in 1974 to his semiretirement in 2018, Dr. Shields reorganized, energized, and expanded the field of ocular oncology like no one before him. He was an expert in the detection and treatment of eye cancer tumors and other eye ailments, and he pioneered the use of plaque radiotherapy, cyberknife radiation surgery, and other cutting-edge procedures.
“The work Dr. Shields did changed the whole mindset of the retinal community,” radiation oncologist Luther Brady told The Inquirer in 2013. “It galvanized the whole treatment program toward preservation of the eye.”
His research on malignant melanoma and retinoblastoma was groundbreaking, and he and his wife, also a celebrated eye doctor, turned the nascent Ocular Oncology Service at Wills into the world’s top eye cancer center. Colleague Eric D. Donnenfeld called them “the power couple of ophthalmology” in a tribute, “each one luminescent in their own right but together a beacon that illuminated the field of ocular oncology.”
Dr. Shields was also engaging with patients, interesting to students, and easy to work with. Colleagues around the world — and he mentored hundreds from Africa, Europe, and elsewhere — called him a “legend” and a “superstar” in tributes. They said: “He will be remembered for his clinical brilliance, work ethic, and personal charisma.”
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In a tribute, Julia A. Haller, ophthalmologist in chief at Wills, said Dr. Shields was “a world statesman and ambassador for all that is best in research, education, and patient care.” She said: “Jerry was the best known and best loved ophthalmologist on the planet.”
Diana Do, editor-in-chief of Retinal Physician magazine, said: “His seminal contributions have truly left an indelible mark on the world.” A former patient said on Facebook: “He was remarkable and a leader in his field. But to me he was a wonderful caring doctor.”
Dr. Shields wrote more than 2,000 scientific articles, 700 textbook chapters, and 13 complete textbooks on ocular oncology. He and his wife traveled the world to medical seminars and conferences, and were featured several times in The Inquirer.
They have a website, fighteyecancer.com, and he talked often about the defining twists of his life. He wrote an autobiography called Only a Moment in Time: A Story of Frustrations, Close Calls, Fun, and Lucky Breaks. He dedicated it in 2018 to his children and said: “Every day with them has been a blessing.”
He earned dozens of awards, including the 2014 Laureate Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In 2012, the Asia Pacific Society of Ophthalmology established the Jerry Shields Lecture for its annual meetings.
He was a founder and first president of the International Society of Ocular Oncology and a member of many other medical groups and editorial boards. He was drafted in 1965 and served as a battalion surgeon for the Marines in Vietnam, and later with the Navy in Europe.
Inquirer staff writer Marie McCullough profiled Dr. Shields and his wife in 2013 after he was named National Physician of the Year by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., publisher of the America’s Top Doctors book series.
She started her story with: “Jerry Shields was born, the last of eight children, in a Kentucky backwater where boys quit high school and became coal miners or farmers. ‘That was my destiny,’ he said. ‘But I was lucky.’”
Jerry Allen Sheilds was born June 9, 1937, in rural Union County, Kentucky. He was fascinated by butterflies as a young man, and his collection of several thousand specimens grew to be among the largest in the United States in the 1950s and ‘60s.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Murray State University in 1960 and worked his way to a medical degree at the University of Michigan in 1964. He considered a career in psychiatry at first but found a niche at Wills in the then-underdeveloped study of eye cancer.
He completed a residency at Wills in 1970 and served fellowships at Wills and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington.
He met Carol Lally on a tennis court in 1984 when he was a staffer at Wills, and she was a new resident there. They dated quietly for a while, got married in 1985, and had sons Jerry Jr., Patrick, Bill, and John, and daughters Maggie, Nelle, and Mary Rose.
They lived near the old Wills Eye Hospital in Center City before moving in 1991 to historic Idlewild Farm in Bryn Mawr.
Dr. Shields talked often about balancing his career and family life. In a 2020 interview with Retina Today magazine, he said: “I didn’t worry about it because I knew that I’d finally met a fantastic woman who believes everything like I do. We were good buddies.”
His wife said: “He was a treasure to work with.”
Dr. Shields played tennis and basketball. He skied, biked, and swam. He donated his boyhood butterfly collection to Murray State.
“The world has lost a true giant,” a former colleague said. His wife said: “Every day was an adventure.”
In addition to his wife and children, Dr. Shields is survived by two grandchildren and other relatives. Four sisters and three brothers died earlier.
Services were held June 27.
Donations in his name may be made to the Jerry A. Shields MD Eye Cancer Fund, Box 832, Philadelphia, Pa. 19105.