Valley cancer doctor dies

Dr. David Prager, a renowned Lehigh Valley oncologist credited with raising this area's level of cancer care to national standards, died at his South Whitehall Township home Sunday. He was 78.

His wife, Rhoda, said his death mercifully ended an 18-year struggle with Parkinson's disease. The degenerative nervous system disorder had gradually slowed Prager but hadn't incapacitated him until the last two years, when treatment and his own considerable will could no longer conquer his symptoms.

"He never complained," Rhoda Prager said Monday . "For 18 years, he never complained. He never said, 'Why me?'"

Prager launched the region's first blood center and hospice. He also brought advanced radiation therapy and experimental drug studies to Lehigh Valley Hospital, where he ran the medical oncology programs and cancer center for years. He trained and educated hundreds of medical school students and graduates, including Dr. Lloyd Barron, who would become his partner in 1975.

"He was a tremendous mentor," said Barron. "He always loved teaching, and I think that's one of the legacies that I will remember him for."

His other longtime partner, Dr. Robert M. Post, called him "one of the great men of medicine in the Lehigh Valley" when Prager retired in June 2002. Dr. Gregory Harper, medical director of Lehigh Valley Health Network's Breast Health Services, called Prager a giant in his field.

"We couldn't be where we are today if not for David," Harper said.

For all his accomplishments, Prager was an unassuming man who might have enjoyed a quiet retirement indulging his gentler hobbies — genealogy and computers — but instead built houses for Habitat for Humanity.

"He did woodworking even when it wasn't coming out too well because he couldn't handle the tools," his wife said, recalling that Prager was essentially forced to quit volunteering for Habitat because his co-workers worried he might hurt himself on a job.

"He really put himself last," she said. "For anybody who needed help, he was right there."

That included his office staff and colleagues who on Monday shared stories of a man with a rich baritone voice and a strictly professional façade that belied a warm and caring nature.

"When we'd hear his voice, it was like the voice of God coming to us," said Natalie Laudenslager, a longtime administrative secretary who worked with Prager at Lehigh Valley Hospital's medical oncology programs and cancer center.

In 1996, Laudenslager put her life in Prager's hands. Diagnosed with breast cancer, she underwent chemotherapy after surgery at his advice. He reviewed and took over her case and even called her at home on the weekend after her first treatment to see how she was doing.

"I was 36 years old at the time and I had four children. He wanted to make sure I'd be around for a long time," said Laudenslager, who has been cancer-free ever since.

One of his former oncology nurses, Sue Gardener, went back to school and became a nurse practitioner at Prager's urging.

"Every time I saw him I told him that I was where I was because of his encouragement," Gardener said. "He, as usual, would say, 'Oh no, you were the one who did all the work.' He never allowed himself to take credit for anything."

He was also a devoted husband and father. His partner Barron recalled a time at a party when a group of wives started questioning whether their husbands would remarry if widowed. Rhoda Prager went right to her husband.

"I remember thinking, boy, you can't answer that question and get a happy ending," Barron said. "But he just looked at her and fired back, 'Rhoda, no man should be that happy twice.' "

Born May 28, 1932, Prager was a Bronx, N.Y., native and the first in his family to become a doctor. He graduated from Chicago Medical School and moved to the Lehigh Valley at the urging of Rhoda and her father, a Philadelphia physician.

Prager set up shop at an office at 17th and Chew streets in 1967. He knew what the region lacked in services, having trained with some of the nation's leading cancer specialists, and he set about filling those gaps, establishing a blood bank, tumor registry and a hemophilia center.

When it came to technology and new tools, Prager was also on the cutting edge. He invented a device still used today that delivers multiple chemotherapy medicines through one channel so patients need only one intravenous injection.

He brought computers to LVH's oncology department in the early 1980s, long before they were commonplace. Laudenslager still remembers the day.

"He set it down and he said, 'Here you go, girls, now learn how to use it,'" she said, laughing.

Over the years, Prager held various leadership positions in hematology/oncology at LVH, its laboratories and cancer programs. He received seven awards from hospitals, the National Cancer Institute and American College of Physicians, 11 research grants and published 59 articles on cancer and blood.

Twelve years ago, before he retired, doctors, nurses, patients and friends threw him a testimonial dinner. About 160 people bought tickets, raising $3,000 for cancer patients.

At least part of that money was used to establish what is now known as the David Prager Patient Assistance Fund, which helps cancer patients pay for such nonmedical expenses as rent, car insurance, groceries and child care. Every year the fund continues to grow.

"It is a fitting tribute to him," Gardener said.

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