A.H. “Buddy” Giesecke, Jr., MD, had a remarkably productive career in anesthesiology that spanned nearly five decades. His numerous leadership roles in organized medicine and achievements in obstetric anesthesiology and trauma gained him some modest prominence over his lifetime, but it was his warm and gentle spirit and his encouraging mentorship that inspired those who had the privilege to know him.1

Buddy was born in 1932 in Oklahoma City, son of Captain Adolph Hartung “Ade” Giesecke and Goldia Linn. He spent his early years on Rancho Felix, outside of Cotulla, Texas, where Ade was the ranch foreman. In May 1941, in the lead up to the United States entering World War II, Buddy’s father was called into active duty and mobilized to the Philippines. Ade was one of the unfortunate soldiers on the infamous Bataan death march, later dying in a prison camp in 1945. So, Buddy grew up in San Antonio, Texas to be close to his father’s family. He was inspired to pursue a career in medicine through the influence of his uncle, Dr. Carl Giesecke, who Buddy knew as “Uncle Doc.”

After graduating from Texas Military Institute, Buddy enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin, breaking a long-standing family tradition of Gieseckes who had attended Texas A&M University. There, he became reacquainted with the love of his life, Miss Veronica “Roni” Morel, whom he would later marry.

Buddy matriculated to The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, graduating in 1955. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and completed his internship at William Beaumont Army Hospital in El Paso, Texas.2 In an interview, Buddy jokingly said he chose the His goal, when he graduated from medical school, was to become a pediatrician. While serving as a flight surgeon, his commanding officer would occasionally assign him to the pediatric clinic. There he discovered that, while he really enjoyed working with children, “the parents just drove me crazy!”3 He turned to anesthesiology because it combined all the things he had enjoyed as an aviation medical officer: the science of barometric pressure, gases, oxygen, and breathing. He learned of a developing anesthesiology residency program at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas that was under the leadership of a young and charismatic chairman, Dr. M.T. “Pepper” Jenkins. Due to his budding interest in trauma medicine at Parkland Hospital he developed a national reputation for the care of trauma patients. This was a natural choice for Buddy’s training.

He joined the faculty of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1963, the same year chance would have him involved in one of the most high-profile events in the world, providing the initial trauma care following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK) in Dallas. After assisting with the initial resuscitation attempts of JFK, Pepper triaged Buddy to care for Governor John Connally, who had also been injured in the shooting. Over the years, Buddy gave countless interviews and talks on the events of the day. When asked if he believed any of the controversy surrounding the assassination, he said, “the conspiracy theories are bunk. I believe there was one gunman.