RALPH DESCHWEINITZ SIEWERS, MD. 6/30/35-1/4/20 Harpswell, ME - Ralph deSchweinitz Siewers. III died on Saturday, January 4, 2020 at the Vicarage by the Sea, an assisted living facility for those with dementia. He was born on June 30, 1935 to Edna Wimmer Siewers and Ralph deSchweinitz Siewers, Jr. in Winston-Salem, NC. As a young man, Ralph prepared to become an agricultural missionary for the Moravian Church, completing a BS in Agriculture at North Carolina State University in 1957, followed by a year at Moravian Seminary in Bethlehem, PA. Choosing instead to become a medical missionary, Ralph obtained an MD degree in 1962 from Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University. He completed an internship in general surgery and two years of residency in thoracic surgery at NC Baptist Hospital before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh to complete his training and become Board Certified in Surgery and Thoracic Surgery. While there, Ralph participated in the first heart transplant conducted in Pittsburgh, the 37 th in the world. Ralph served 2 years in the Army Medical Corps, first with the Surgeon General's Office as Chief of the Shock and Trauma Research Branch and then from 1970-71, at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, Vietnam. After a brief stint as a general surgeon in North Carolina, Ralph joined the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh to specialize in heart surgery. Over the course of his 30-year tenure, he came to focus solely on pediatric repairs, was responsible for introducing surgery under hypothermia into the cardiac program, and built the Division of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. By the time he retired, Ralph had changed the lives of thousands of children and their families. He often said he loved going to work every single day and felt like the luckiest person in the world to have the job he had. Ralph was a life-long and avid gardener and remained an active participant in his church communities in Winston-Salem, Pittsburgh and finally Blue Hill, ME. He had a decades-long involvement with Outward Bound, and more recently with Atlantic Challenge International. He mentored youth through Big Brothers Big Sisters, championed early childhood education, and served his family, friends, church and community with generosity and spirit. Ralph retired as a Professor of Surgery in 2002 and permanently relocated to Sedgwick, Maine. In 2008, Ralph was diagnosed with dementia. In 2016, he was moved to the Vicarage by the Sea, a dementia care facility in Harpswell, ME. His family is eternally grateful to Johanna Wigg and her staff for making Ralph's final years meaningful, comfortable and active. Ralph is survived by his wife of 36 years, Pamela Nimorwicz Siewers; children, Christine Siewers Gardner, Fredrick deSchweinitz Siewers (Helen) and Andrea Scottie Siewers (Christopher Wellins); grandchildren, Mae Gardner, Anna and Maria Siewers, and Zachary and Emma Wellins and his former wife, Christiane Menzel Siewers. A celebration of life will be held at Home Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, NC on February 22, 2020. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Vicarage by the Sea in Harpswell, ME. Send condolences post-gazette.com/gb