VOLUME 33, ISSUE 1

Charles Courts Tandy, M.D. was born in Abilene, Texas on March 16, 1929. At the age of 10, Tandy already knew he wanted to be doctor.1 Tandy did not initially set out to become an anesthesiologist and he certainly never planned to stay in Dallas. He originally planned to have a small town family practice; however, fate would intervene.

Tandy attended Hardin-Simmons University and then matriculated to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School (UTSW), graduating in 1953. (Figure 1) He has fond memories of medical school, where he boasts his first year’s tuition was “somewhere about $100 or $150!” He lived in the Theta Kappa Psi fraternity house for a mere $60 per month, and he jokingly reminisced that the men’s laundry was often done in the bathtub! Tandy completed his internship at Parkland Hospital in 1954. It was during that year that he met M.T. “Pepper” Jenkins, M.D., the chair of the anesthesia department at UTSW, who first introduced him to anesthesiology as a medical specialty.

While an intern at Parkland Hospital, Tandy admitted a patient with intractable hiccups. Over a 3-week inpatient stay, the young intern attempted every known cure for hiccups, but nothing worked. Tandy read that a deep ether anesthetic just might be the solution for his patient, so he called Jenkins who agreed to help. It was the first of many phone calls to Jenkins, as well as the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

After four hours of “good ol’ ether,” delivered by Tandy with Jenkins by his side, the patient emerged, and the hiccups were gone! Unfortunately, the hiccups returned the next day, and the patient eventually signed himself out of the hospital without being completely cured. This was Tandy’s first experience with anesthesia, and, though he completed a month of anesthesia training after that, he still had no intention of becoming an anesthesiologist.
The following year, while serving as a surgeon in the United States Air Force in Salina, Kansas, Tandy had a moment of clarity at 2am during a particularly difficult open appendectomy. The next day, Tandy called Jenkins to discuss his potential as an anesthesiologist. A year and a half later, Tandy was starting his residency in anesthesiology at Parkland under Jenkins’ supervision. (Figure 2)

After residency, Tandy looked for a place to settle. Two of Tandy’s resident colleagues would play a major role in his decision to stay in Dallas. Dr. Wayne Gossard had been his senior resident on the surgery service when Tandy was an intern. Gossard, described by Tandy as “the best surgeon I’ve ever known,” was operating at Methodist Hospital in Dallas. Dr. Charlie Sloan, who was two years ahead of Tandy in anesthesiology residency, had gone to Methodist Hospital to be the first anesthesiologist on the hospital’s medical staff. Sloan recruited Tandy to join him and Tandy became the second anesthesiologist on staff at Methodist Hospital in Dallas.

The rest, as they say, is history. Tandy beams, “Charlie and I built our own anesthesia operation there at Methodist.” The first hospital to use gas analysis in Dallas and the first to employ computerized monitoring in the operating room, Methodist Hospital anesthesia thrived under Tandy’s 54-year tenure. “I’m proud of what we did there.” (Figure 3)

Anesthesiologist, cattle rancher, and active church member, Tandy eventually added public service to his résumé. From 1987-1993, Tandy served on the Dallas City Council. It was a busy time in his life working the equivalent of two full-time jobs, but Tandy has said he has no regrets. At one particular council event, he recalled that he bumped into his Parkland patient with the hiccups from forty years prior. For those inquiring minds who want to know, Tandy discovered that the patient continued to suffer from lifelong bouts of intractable hiccups.

Tandy retired from clinical practice in 2012 at the age of 83, having logged 42,480 anesthetic cases. At 91 years young, he and his wife, Roena, still live in the same Oak Cliff home that he bought in 1958, within walking distance to Methodist Hospital.2 Since his retirement, Tandy, a passionate historian, has kept busy organizing his personal archives and his impressive collection of rare and valuable books. Jonathan Hill, a bookseller in New York City, called Tandy’s anesthesiology collection “one of the finest ever formed by a private individual.”3 Tandy donated a set of early English Bibles, including a leaf from the Gutenberg Bible and a first edition King James Bible to Hardin-Simmons University. His personal papers and several rare anesthesia books were recently given to UTSW.4,5 (Figure 4)

Tandy has remained active within the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists (TSA) for over 65 years, having held various leadership roles, including TSA President from 1973-1974.6 He received the esteemed TSA Distinguished Service Award in 2002.7 Tandy has had an important role in preserving the history of the organization and, even today, he continues to volunteer his time to the TSA, currently serving on the TSA’s Committee on History. In September 2016, Tandy was honored with the Distinguished Service Award by the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology (WLM) for his enduring service and contribution to WLM over many years, including serving as the Chairman of the WLM Board of Trustees from 1972 to 1980.8 He is still an active member of the WLM Acquisition Committee.

There is no doubt that Charles C. Tandy has made his mark on anesthesiology in Texas and beyond. He is one of the many giants in our specialty on whose shoulders we stand.

Unless otherwise cited, the information contained within the above article is from personal communication between Charles Tandy and Amy Woods, obtained in an interview that occurred on June 15, 2020.