Fred F. Schudy passed away peacefully with family pre-sent on March 2, 2001. His passing followed a brief stay inthe hospital as the result of a hip fracture. He had celebratedhis 93rd birthday 16 days earlier.

Fred was born on a small farm in southern Missouri neara general store, which was Cold Springs, Mo. He was 1 of the7 children of James and Josephine Schudy. As a boy, Fredwatched a dentist work in a store window on the square in theneighboring town of Ava. It looked like a respectable, clean,and intelligent craft to him, and so he set his sights on dentalschool. Fred loved education from an early age. (He evenmaintained contact with his first-grade teacher until her death.He helped give her a 90th birthday celebration.) Fred was thefirst of his family to complete high school and attend collegeand the only one to do this as the children were growing up.

After completing 2 years of study at Southwest MissouriState, he entered Washington University Dental School in St.Louis. Needing to work, he managed to do so 40 hours perweek. Studies were his priority, however, and Fred developedthe student’s art of having one eye on his book and the other onthe service station pumps he was attending. He graduated firstin his class and was a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon.

In 1932, Fred began his general dental practice in Ava. Hepracticed there for 8 years. During those years, he met Flo-rence Mae Summers. They married in 1936, and she blessedhis life with style, beauty, and creativity for 53 years. Despitea great respect and love for general dentistry, he found hisinterest growing in the newly developing field of orthodon-tics. In 1940, he returned to school, at Columbia University,in New York City, to study orthodontics. After his 1-year res-idency, he and Florence Mae moved to the then-small city ofHouston. After imploring all branches of the military to takehim when the United states entered World War II, he reluc-tantly set up his private practice—only to be conscripted bythe Army some 12 months later. In 1946, after the war, hereturned to Houston from Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio,to again begin his private practice in earnest.

Initially, he practiced with Dr Al Westfall. They studiedthe then-new and complex edgewise appliance. These wereexciting times of daily learning and growth. He learned wellfrom Dr Westfall and from Drs Eddie Arnold, C. T. Roland,Hayes Nance, and others. Dr Nance would come to town andgive small intensive workshops. Learning to bend wire and tocontrol and understand torque with only spotty instructionwas a struggle. Fred also learned from Dr Charles Tweed, and

it was at a Tweed Foundation meeting in 1953 that he beganto value the importance of the interincisal angle.

Fred came to orthodontics with a burning desire to con-tribute and to leave the profession a little better. Part of his aspi-ration may have been fueled by a desire to do well in his par-ents’ eyes, because they had been against his pursuing aneducation and a different way of life. In 1955, the cephalometerwas invented, and it soon became available to individual practi-tioners. The field of cephalometrics turned out to be a fertile onefor Fred’s curious mind and eagerness to contribute. He studiedanatomy with an exploded skull in the evenings and queriedevery person he could on the subject. He had extensive, in-depthstudies with Cecil Steiner of California, a mentor and a friend.They exchanged small green phonograph recording disks in themail as they traded ideas and pondered questions. The thoughtsof Drs Reed Holdaway, Bob Ricketts, and Howard Lang werealso important in influencing and shaping his concepts. To aidhis studies, Fred would take a head plate on patients who werenot ready for treatment and on others at no cost if they wouldreturn periodically. These serial films gave him the material heneeded to help answer some of his questions about the incon-sistent results he observed in generic treatments being appliedto all patients.

This began a series of investigations examining thegrowth of the face as it relates to treatment. These studiesilluminated and clarified Fred’s observation that the verticaldimension was critical in its effect on facial form andmandibular growth. During these years, Fred trained 3 pre-

Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2001;120:90-1Copyright © 2001 by the American Association of Orthodontists.0889-5406/2001/$35.00 + 0 8/8/117438doi:10.1067/mod.2001.117438

IN MEMORIAM

Fred F. Schudy, 1908-2001

90 American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics/July 2001

American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics In Memoriam 91Volume 120, Number 1

ceptees in his office, Drs Clarence Hertzler, Tom Creekmore,and Bob Natoli. These men were instrumental in aiding thisresearch. They made it possible for Fred to carry on a full-time practice, conduct extensive research, and raise a familyat the same time. They were responsible for measuring (byhand) and recording most of the data. He and Dr Creekmoredeveloped the high-pull face bow in 1965. Fred loved toteach, and he had a pleasant and mutually beneficial relation-ship with his preceptees. Ultimately, 5 articles were pub-lished on the vertical dimension, and one, “The Rotation ofthe Mandible Resulting from Growth, Its Implication inOrthodontic Treatment,” was declared a classic by the AAO.

Not long before his own death, Dr Alan Brodie urgedmembers of the Foundation for Orthodontic Research to doresearch and, as he said, “just stick your spade in anywhere.”Just by turning over the soil, the researcher would discoverunexpected concepts, and his life would be blessed. Fredwould certainly agree with this, because his research helpedkeep him curious and enthusiastic over a long career. It alsohelped him develop many fulfilling relationships withyounger orthodontists through lecturing and teaching.

Later in his career, Fred wrote more about specific clini-cal applications and appliance therapy. In 1962, Drs RoscoeKeedy and Hayes Nance were very early advocates of theextraction of all 4 second bicuspids. Fred heeded their advice,treating his first second-bicuspid case shortly thereafter, andbecame an enthusiastic proponent of this extraction sequence.In 1970, he became an early proponent of using 2 different-sized bracket slots in the same mouth, with a .016-inch sloton the 6 anterior teeth and a .018-inch slot on the posteriorteeth. In recent years, Fred wrote extensively on the origin ofthe curve of Spee and published a book, The Occlusal Planeand the Vertical Dimension, in 1992.

Fred was a member of the American Association ofOrthodontists, the American Dental Association, the EdwardH. Angle Society, and the Charles Tweed Foundation. He wasa founding member and former president of the CharlesTweed Study Group of Texas, which is over 50 years old andhas more than 150 members. He also was a Fellow of theAmerican College of Dentists and a diplomate of the Ameri-can Board of Orthodontics.

Fred greatly appreciated the acknowledgements of hisefforts during his career. He received the Martin H. DeweyAward from the Southwestern Society of the American Asso-ciation of Orthodontists. He also received the Merit Awardfor Achievement from the St. Louis Alumni Association, aswell as the Outstanding Alumnus Award from both ColumbiaUniversity and Washington University Dental School. TheAmerican Board of Orthodontics honored him with theAlbert H. Ketcham Award in 1982. In 1996, Fred received theTrail Blazer Award from the Edward A. Angle Society ofOrthodontists.

Although Fred loved to do research and to study growth, he

loved straightening teeth at the chair and interacting with hispatients. He agreed strongly with what Dr Moody Alexandercurrently says, that the orthodontist should provide a “valueadded” over and above straightened teeth. Many times, he tooka recalcitrant patient into his private office to try to encouragebetter behavior or told a story at the chair to help a youngpatient see a better way of acting or thinking. Throughout hiscareer, he had enthusiasm for even the mundane aspects oforthodontics. At 80 years of age, he would teach oral hygieneto an 8-year-old with as much patience and enthusiasm as ever.Fred practiced until he was 80. The last 15 of these years, hewas joined in practice by his son, Dr George F. Schudy.

Fred’s zest for life continued into his retirement years. Hetook a computer course at the community college and set uphis own Web page (http://maxen.net/~schudyf). This gavehim a continuing interaction with colleagues around theworld. He bought an organ so that he could fulfill a latentdream of playing this instrument. Through his church, he vis-ited hospitalized parishioners. He also delivered Meals onWheels for a Christian alliance organization in Houston, say-ing he was going out to deliver meals to the “old people.” Hisyounger meal recipients called him “Pops.”

I shall pass through this world but once. If,therefore, there be any kindness I can show or anygood thing I can do, let me do it now, let me not deferit or neglect it. For I shall not pass this way again.

—Etienne de Grelet

This quote hung behind Fred’s desk in his private office,and he tried to live according to its words. He was active atSt. Luke’s United Methodist Church, which he helped foundin 1947, serving on its executive board for 30 years. St.Luke’s honored him with its Distinguished Life honor in1991. An active member of the Rotary Club of Houston formore than 25 years, Fred also participated in Big Brothers ofAmerica and worked for 10 years with 2 fatherless youngmen.

Fred Schudy lived a long and fruitful life and was blessedto traverse from the horse-and-buggy age without plumbingand telephone to space travel, cell phones, and personal com-puters. Professionally, when he began practicing orthodon-tics, he custom-formed all bands, hand-soldered all tubes, andused platinum and gold archwires. When he retired, he wasusing direct bonding, nitinol wire, and computerized cephalo-metrics! The specialty of orthodontics suited Fred well andblessed his life through a wonderful symbiotic relationship.

A dental colleague for whom he had great respectrecently said that he hopes that God has a huge malocclusionand, if so, Fred has taken impressions and is planning Histreatment.—George F. Schudy, DDS, MS, and Don Niewold, DDS, MS