Kevin Anthony Chavarria, 58, respected physician

WHEN KEVIN Chavarria arrived at Harvard University for a summer of study, he was impressed by the seriousness of the students.

"Everybody had their nose in a book," said his wife, Karla. "There was no fooling around. Everybody was serious. He truly learned to study and to discover that if you really desire to achieve your goals and dreams, you must eat, drink and sleep it."

Kevin did. Devoting himself heart and soul to learning medicine and, ultimately, becoming a highly respected doctor in Philadelphia who specialized in relieving his patients of pain and the dread of illness.

"He was a healer," his wife said. "People came to him who needed to be healed, and he healed them."

Kevin Anthony Chavarria, an internal-medicine and pain-relief specialist who maintained three offices in Philadelphia, a world traveler, jazz buff and devoted family man, died Saturday of liver cancer. He was 58 and lived in Wyncote.

"He gave his heart," his wife said. "Sometimes I thought he gave too much, but since he died, people have been calling me and saying, 'Your husband saved my life.' "

Kevin not only treated the physical symptoms, but the emotional ones as well. "He would talk to his patients to bring them out of depression. He was truly loved by everyone," Karla said.

He was born in Philadelphia to Carlos Ramone Chavarria and the late Patricia Ann Holton. He attended Holy Rosary Parochial School and graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1972.

He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976. After his summer at Harvard, Kevin attended the University of Minnesota for two semesters. While there, he was notified that he had been accepted at the Temple University School of Medicine.

He received his medical degree in 1983, and served his residency in internal medicine at Einstein Medical Center. He eventually had offices on Germantown Avenue, Cottman Avenue and Frankford Avenue.

Karla Garrison was only 19 in 1976 when she first laid eyes on Kevin Chavarria.

"I was in a friend's kitchen when in walked this tall, handsome man," she said. "My mother whispered to me, 'You're going to marry that guy.' "

Well, it took a while. The prediction of her mother, Phyllis Briggs, was accurate, if somewhat delayed: Kevin went through two other marriages before he and Karla got back together and married in 1999.

Kevin was a world traveler, with a special fondness for Brazil. He visited Rio de Janeiro 11 times. He also enjoyed taking the family to Wildwood.

He was a devoted jazz fan and visited the jazz clubs in Philly to catch his favorites.

"He was always a gentleman," his wife said. "He believed in treating everybody with dignity and respect. He had an intense passion for laughter and integrity."

Besides his wife and father, he is survived by three daughters, Christina Brathwaite, Brijae and Chandler; a son, Kevin Jr.; a brother, Christopher; two grandchildren; and his former wives, Zerlina Stevens and Michelle Chavarria.

Services: Funeral Mass 11 a.m. Friday at St. Luke the Evangelist Church, 2316 Fairhill Ave., Glenside. Friends may call at 10:30 a.m.