Frank Harrison, cardiologist, volunteer

Frank S. Harrison Jr., 80, of Gladwyne, a retired cardiologist and volunteer, died Thursday, Oct. 20, of a brain stem tumor at Bryn Mawr Hospital, where he had practiced for 38 years.

Dr. Harrison joined the hospital's medical staff in September 1968, and, except for three years when he was chief of cardiovascular services, served as a staff physician. He retired in 2006.

A careful listener well-grounded in science, Dr. Harrison took a holistic approach to medicine, said daughter Leah H. Singer.

"He cared deeply about his patients, he treated the whole patient," she said. "He said he needed to know what his patient's family was like, what the patient did for a living."

A Philadelphia native, Dr. Harrison grew up in Bala Cynwyd. His father was a wholesale produce dealer, his mother an office manager and homemaker. Dr. Harrison graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1953. Four years later, he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y.

In 1961, he completed a medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Afterward, he finished an internship at Penn, followed by residencies at the University of Washington in Seattle and at Bryn Mawr Hospital. He returned to Penn for a fellowship in cardiology.

He interrupted his studies to serve for two years with the Air Force as a flight surgeon based in Dover, Del., and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain.

By 1973, he had become board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Harrison was an early partner in Bryn Mawr Medical Specialists Association. He and fellow cardiologist Wayne Keller relished their 10-minute walks together from their office on Haverford Road to the hospital, his daughter said. Keller died in 2013.

While he catered to a Main Line clientele during his career, Dr. Harrison saw a different patient population in retirement when he volunteered two days a week for Community Volunteers in Medicine. The West Chester nonprofit treats Chester County's mushroom workers and others. Some he communicated with through a Spanish-English translator.

"He was just moving to a different clinic," his daughter said. "He had spent his life working for Main Line patients who could pay him, and now it was those who couldn't. It didn't make a darned bit of difference to him."

He liked the work so much, he kept it up for 10 years ending a month ago. When he became too ill to work, the nonprofit missed him. "They kept calling. 'Frank, where are you? We need you,' " his daughter said.

He also served on the nonprofit's board of directors for six years and helped train the third- and fourth-year medical students who assist in the volunteer clinic.

When not treating patients, Dr. Harrison lavished his attention on his family and pet Welsh corgis. He tramped the fields on the trail of cottontail rabbits with the Ardrossan Beagles.

He was a third-degree Mason, and a 25-year member of the Porsche Club of America, and the Stony Lane Swim Club. He attended St. Christopher's Church, Gladwyne.

Dr. Harrison met Joan Hulsizer at Bryn Mawr Hospital in 1955, when he worked as an orderly during the summer and she was a student nurse. They married in 1960.

Besides his wife and daughter, he is survived by a daughter, Ann; a son, James P.; two grandchildren; and a brother.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, at St. Christopher's Church, 226 Righters Mill Rd., Gladwyne. Interment is private.

Donations may be made to Bryn Mawr Hospital Foundation, 130 S. Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010, or to Community Volunteers in Medicine, 300 Lawrence Dr., West Chester, Pa. 19380.

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