Physician
Centurion, 1914–1965
Born 19 July 1873 in Oaksville, New York
Died 13 March 1965 in Pawling, New York
Buried Fly Creek Valley Cemetery
, Fly Creek, New York
Proposed by George E. Brewer and Frank Vincent Du Mond
Elected 7 November 1914 at age forty-one
Century Memorial
One of four “senior members” of The Century at the time of his death, Dever’s membership dates back to 1914. He loved The Century and served it well as a member of several committees, including Admissions, and in his addresses to new members which were warm with welcome. Busy as he was with his exigent profession of pediatrician, he rarely missed a monthly meeting. It was a pleasure to greet him, for he always bowed as he shook hands; there was the suggestion of an ancient courtesy which has largely passed from the twentieth-century scene.
His fellow physicians, especially those who, like him, undertook the delicate task of doctoring children, remember the confidence he gave to the most frightened child and the tact with which he talked to parents about the most troublesome cases. There was something so unhurried about his manner that he seemed a happy misfit in an impatient world. We may imagine what a lift that gave to an uneasy child to whom our world was still strange.
Dever Spencer Byard was, like many of our best-loved Centurions, a Cooperstown boy. He was born in the nearby village of Fly Creek, ninety-one years ago. After his graduation from Hartwick Seminary, he came to New York to study medicine at New York University where he stood at the head of his class and was given the first prize. He took his M.D. in 1895. He specialized, within the pediatric specialty, on immunization. He was a pioneer in the application of the Schick test for diphtheria, formerly one of the most deadly of the childhood diseases. He became clinical professor in pediatrics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of medical services at the former St. Mary’s Free Hospital for Children.
He was, at one time, chairman of the pediatrics section of the New York County Medical Society and president of the Children’s Welfare Society. He was a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics and a member of both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Academy of Medicine. When he retired, he was nearly ninety.
When, after his long, useful life, he was at last “pegged out” on our board, he became one of The Century’s most honored immortals.
Roger Burlingame
1966 Century Association Yearbook
