Life Interventions and Family
The roots of Arthur Steffee’s generosity may be seen in the life intervention he received from a benefactor in his hometown of Oil City who provided funding for Arthur and his brother Bill to go to medical school – which loan he later repaid. It made all the difference – a “difference” that Arthur continued to make in the lives of others.
Arthur was the oldest of three children, including siblings Bill and Susan. In an interview with Ohio family practice physician Nicholas Young (who is writing a book about the history of Foxburg) Arthur shared, “My mother was a schoolteacher. My father was a teller in the bank. My dad started in the bank the day he graduated from high school, and he stayed in that till he retired in Oil City.”
The ethical values of his parents were the foundation of Arthur’s character. His younger sister Susan Steffee said of her father, “My father lived the ten commandments. He lived them.”
The children were encouraged to be all they could be. Arthur participated in track and field in both high school and college. A friend from Oil City who competed against him in college said, “When Art ran the hurdles, it was like he was stepping over them. He had legs up to here!”
Arthur’s love of music was nurtured early. He played violin from 10 years of age as a member of the Juvenile and later the Jr. Schubert Club of Oil City, performing monthly in club recitals. He also played flute and piccolo in two bands: In the high school band, twice advancing to play in the Pennsylvania “state” orchestra, and in the American Legion band in which he toured to New York City.
“People ask me, why did you go to medical school? In fact, my mother told me and my brother Bill, ‘you have to go to medical school.’ And I knew how to follow directions.”
Arthur noted, “You know my parents couldn’t afford to send us to school. I owe my medical education to a dentist in Oil City – Dr. McAndrews. He came up with the cash for both my brother and me to go to medical school. When it was all said and done and over with, I paid it back actually. But times were different. You know, how much tuition was at McGill? $740 for Americans. $500 if you were Canadian. For the full year.”
After graduating from Oil City High School in 1952, Arthur went to Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania and graduated in 1956 before attending McGill University in Montreal, where in 1960 he received the M.D.,C.M. (Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery) degree.
His brother, Bill also went to Allegheny College in Meadville and to the University of Pennsylvania medical school, later earned a Ph.D. in physics from MIT, taught at Boston University, then joined Arthur at St. Vincent Charity Hospital as Director of Medicine before heading Arthur’s spinal implant company, Acromed.
Arthur and Bill Steffee together endowed the Steffee Hall of Life Sciences at their alma mater, Allegheny College.
Steffee’s younger sister Susan attended Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University, earned a degree in interior decorating, and spent most of her life in Chicago, before returning to Foxburg where she lived in the house Arthur restored for her on the old Harvey farm.
Another life intervention came from his sister Susan. In her work for Gates and Burns Realty, Susan met Marybeth Hinds from Ohio and Clarington, PA who was looking for a property along the Allegheny River near Foxburg. Susan told her, “You want my house,” which had just been put on the market.
Without meeting Arthur, in 2009 Marybeth subsequently bought the Harvey property he’d renovated, with all transactions taking place through attorneys.
Some time after the passing of Arthur’s long-time surgical nurse and wife of twenty years, Patricia Bishop Steffee, it was Susan who served as matchmaker, introducing her brother to Marybeth.
Dr Steffee on his 85th birthday in August, 2019 two weeks after he and Marybeth were married.
Their companionship led to marriage and in August of 2019, one week after Arthur and Marybeth were married, they celebrated his 85th birthday, sharing the evening with a group of close friends.
Twenty years after reclaiming the Harvey estate, Arthur joined Marybeth in her home that he had renovated for his sister with its stunning view of the Allegheny River valley that they would later name StoneRidge.
While Marybeth had made significant improvements to the house, Arthur put his brilliant artistic vision and seasoned architectural landscaping experience to work with his impressive earth moving equipment.
Arthur “remolded the top of a mountain” doing what he loved: Moving rocks, building ponds and waterfalls, planting trees of all kinds, creating flowering rock gardens, and constructing a guest house ‘barn’ that inspires awe with its stained-glass windows, central ‘tree’ staircase and rustically elegant furnishings.
Many think that StoneRidge – with its infinity pond, bog with aquatic plants to purify the pond water, waterfall cascading down from the top of the ridge, Sunset point, rock gardens and plantings – is more spectacular than RiverStone Farm with its gorgeous view down the Allegheny River valley… This was Arthur’s last artistic creation.
Another life intervention would be kismet related to RiverStone farm and Foxburg. After Arthur and Marybeth had married and he was selling RiverStone, his long-time surgical partner at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland and close personal friend, Dr. Louis Keppler, with his wife Cindy, introduced Arthur to Saji and Shannon Daniel.
While many had been interested in purchasing the place, none shared Arthur’s vision for the estate and the village as did Saji Daniel. In time, the Daniels purchased both the estate and Arthur’s downtown businesses, recently renovating the hotel and winery… carrying forward his dream and continuing his legacy - to bring the beauty of the Allegheny-Clarion River valley and all it offers to those seeking its tranquility and inspiration.
The Father of Modern Spine Surgery
As the inspirational Sir William Osler was called “The Father of Modern Medicine”, Arthur Steffee was known as “The Father of Modern Spine Surgery”.
In 2023, when he was awarded the Cleveland Clinic Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, Arthur’s one-time resident and longtime surgical partner, Dr. Lou Keppler, said of his pedicle screw plate invention, “It’s the standard of care now. He changed the way spinal surgery is done throughout the entire world.”
Surgical Partners –L-R: Arthur Steffee, Karl Alfred, Louis Keppler,
St. Vincent Charity Hospital, Cleveland
Robin Young, founder and published of Orthopedics This Week,following the passing of “one of the founding fathers and most consequential surgeons in spine surgery”, related his legacy and contribution to spinal medicine in an article on August 19, 2024:
“His passing is a monumental event in the history of orthopedics and spine care. Arthur Steffee leaves behind an unmatched legacy of service, innovation and vision. Surgeons in Asia, Latin America, Australia, Europe, and North America—learned the modern practice of spine surgery from him. They, in turn, trained other surgeons and collectively, restored millions of patients to productive lives.”
In a 2020 article, Young published patients’ letters about the difference that Arthur had made in their lives, including this from a patient on whom he had operated when they were 16 years of age: . . . Part 3 next week.
A concert to celebrate his memory will be announced at a later date.
If you wish to honor his memory, you may make an online contribution at www.alleghenyriverstone.org. Checks may be mailed to Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts, P. O. Box 215, Foxburg, PA 16036. Telephone: 724-659-3153
Written by Arthur Steffee’s long-time friend, Katherine Soroka, ARCA board member and artistic/marketing director
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