From the Baltimore Sun:
Dr. Raymundo S. Magno, a longtime Dundalk family physician who cared for generations of families and was also known for his charitable work in his native Philippines, died Thursday at a daughter’s home at Rehoboth Beach, Del., from kidney disease. The Towson resident was 83.
“I was devastated when I heard that Raymundo had died,” said longtime friend and medical colleague Dr. Ruben Ballesteros, a retired surgeon who lives in the Phoenix area of Baltimore County. “When I think of him, I think of the play, ‘A Man for All Seasons.’ He was a man for all seasons.”
“He will be missed by those he touched in his life,” said Dr. Claro PioRoda, a medical school classmate and retired Baltimore surgeon who lives in Lutherville. “He took care of grandparents, their children and grandchildren.”
“He was a pillar of the Filipino community, a great doctor,” said Ms. DeJesus, a Cockeysville resident. “He was the most caring doctor; if his office was closed and a patient called, he’d open it. He took the time and interest in getting to know his patients and their families.”
Raymundo Solomon Magno was born and raised in Munoz, the Philippines. One of 10 children, he was the son of Paulino Magno, a school teacher, and Cayetana Magno, a homemaker.
After graduating from high school in Munoz, he entered the University of the Philippines School of Medicine, and obtained a medical degree in 1960.
Dr. Magno came to Baltimore that year and completed his residency in internal medicine. He was initially at the old Church Home and Hospital on Caroline Street in East Baltimore; then completed a fellowship in internal medicine with a sub-specialty in nephrology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
While at Church hospital he met and fell in love with Maria Belen Burce, a Filipina student nurse. They married in 1964.
In 1971, Dr. Magno established a general medical practice in the 7800 block of Wise Ave. in Dundalk, with his wife serving as nurse. He eventually expanded the practice to include satellite offices in Rosedale and Bel Air. Dr. Romina Magno Thomas, a daughter, joined her father and mother in the practice after receiving her medical degree.
“As a kid, I’d walk his patients home down the alley and I would go on house calls with him. Those are some of my happiest memories,” Dr. Thomas said. “I got to see what a great doctor he was. He was always compassionate with his patients and never lost that mission as a doctor.”
Dr. Magno was more like the country doctor than an urban physician.
“He was the old type of physician and served generations of Dundalk families. Patients had our home phone number and they became like family,” his daughter said. “It really was an old-fashioned relationship.”
“I have known Ray for more than 40 years and I’ve always been so impressed by his accomplishments,” said Dr. Ballesteros. “He always gave [patients] competent care and took care of them regardless of their ability to pay. Wealth didn’t mean a thing to him.”
“He was dearly loved by his patients,” Dr. PioRoda said. “He went out of his way to make them comfortable and made sure they had access to good care. His patients became friends and golfing buddies.”
“Sharing a profession and working side-by-side with my father was the most gratifying experience I could ever ask for,” said Dr. Thomas, who lives in Rehoboth Beach and is on the staff of the Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic in Georgetown, Del. “I learned from my father that medicine is all about service and helping people.”
Dr. Magno had been president of the Association of Philippine Physicians in Maryland and “provided a voice for international medical graduates within MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society,” his daughter said.
Frederick N. Rasmussen
