Bryan Miller Shieman M.D., Orthopaedic Surgeon, departed his long 86-year life August 17, 2011, at home in Los Altos Hills, Calif. After a six-month courageous fight for life in a home hospice setting, he was able to celebrate his 60th wedding anniversary with his beloved wife, August 11th. For those who wish to learn more about his life, his family offers the following:
Bryan was a pioneer doctor at El Camino Hospital, in Mountain View, Calif., from 1961-1992. He then opened one of the Bay Area’s first osteoporosis centers where he continued to work until 1999. In many ways his life was connected to the hospital. Among them, he was the founding chairman of the El Camino Insurance Exchange; the founding chairman of the first computerized system at El Camino, the Lockheed MIS System; the co-founder of the El Camino Center for Osteoporosis; the inventor of the hospital’s first motorized bed mover; and the inventor of a much needed surgical instrument.
Bryan was born March 21, 1925 in Smokey Lake, Alberta, Canada. He remains beloved by his wife, Joy (Conron) Shieman of Toronto, Canada, and their three daughters: Chere Shieman Moore (Bakersfield), Suzanne Shieman Bonham (Pleasant Hill), and Sarita Shieman Gralin (San Jose). They all devotedly cared for him during his home-hospice confinement.
Futuristic hope and pride extended to Bryan and Joy’s three grandchildren: Brianna Moore, Adrian Gralin, and Daniel Moore. Bryan’s own youth was “adventured” in Holden, Alberta, with his father being George Henry Shieman of St. Paul Minn., and his mother, Helen Elizabeth Shieman of Eureka, Calif. He survived, by many years, his two younger brothers: Fred Shieman (wife Barbara, sons Matt and Tim Shieman), and Alan Shieman (wife Helen Shieman, daughter Nancy Shieman Viale, and sons George and Gary Shieman).
Bryan was educated in Holden, Alberta, Canada; at Humboldt State University, Arcata, California; and at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. This was followed by a five-year residency at Los Angeles County Hospital.
Some of the professional organizations he belonged to were:
the American Medical Assoc.; the California Medical Assoc.; the Santa Clara County Medical Assoc.; the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; the Western Orthopaedic Assoc.; the Northern California Chapter of the Western Orthopaedic Assoc.; the California Orthopaedic Assoc.; the North American Spine Society; as well as , the Santa Clara County Orthopaedic Club. He was also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; and for 15 years, a “creative” member of the Sunnyvale Rotary Club.
Bryan Shieman’s sole purpose in life was to care for, and champion his fellow travelers here on earth. In his medical office, he always carried balloons in his pockets to ward-off the fears of children. This habit continued with the young and old as he travelled; initially on a one-man medical mission to Baja and Mexico. He became known to some as, “The Balloon Man of Mexico.”
As a private pilot he flew his small plane, along with other beloved altruistic doctors and friends, on what became ultimately 30 such adventures to Baja, Sur. He organized and led the first medical conference to be held in Baja. A fact known only by a few, this culminated in personal medical attention being given to many encountered needing surgical care who otherwise would not have that level of medical care available to them. He operated on them at El Camino Hospital and provided their follow-up care in his own home. To Bryan’s great pleasure, this gifted him with life-long, three-generational friendships with many of these families.
Confined to bed during the last days of his six-month challenge, Bryan was still on his life’s mission, assisting his own faithful “hospice helpers” in their personal lives. A wish he often voiced was to, “Help those who find themselves in a similar situation as I find myself.”
Any thought of remembrances may be translated into a contribution to a non-profit hospice, the American Lung Assoc., the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis, the American Thoracic Society, or to another place where research is being conducted on pulmonary fibrosis. Bryan’s “shepherding” of his fellow man, would then continue onward.