James and Lidia Wenz, highly regarded Johns Hopkins
physicians who also trained here, were killed on Jan. 20
when their Hummer went out of control on Interstate 83,
near the Timonium Road exit. According to the state police,
the accident, which occurred at 1:17 a.m., took place when
their vehicle hit a median, spun into a tractor-trailer and
was then hit by a second tractor-trailer.
Their children, Adrianna, 8, and James Jr., 7, were
injured in the accident and have been released from the
hospital. Both truck drivers survived the crash as well.
The Baltimore Sun reported that the family was
returning from a trip to the Adirondacks in Upstate New
York, where they were planning to buy a facility to use as
a summer camp for children and an education center for
students studying for medical school entrance exams.
"Their death is a loss not just to their children but
to the entire Johns Hopkins Medicine family and to the many
patients who benefited from their skills," said JHM
administration in an e-mail sent to all JHM employees
shortly after the accident. As plans were being made for
memorial services, the message continued, "We remind you of
the enormous skills and promise lost to the world by their
deaths."
A brilliant and innovative orthopedic surgeon, James
Wenz, 40, was chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic
Surgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, an
assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at The Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine and an attending
surgeon at both Bayview and The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Child psychiatrist Lidia Wenz, 44, was an instructor
in psychiatry at the School of Medicine at the time of her
death. She had been a full-time faculty member until 2001,
when she left to spend more time with her children.
A New York City native, James Wenz received his
bachelor's degree in 1987 in biomedical engineering from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he did extensive
research on prosthetic devices and mechanical properties of
articular cartilage, knowledge that he brought into
practical application in orthopedics.
After receiving his medical degree from Johns Hopkins
in 1991, he completed his orthopedic residency in 1996 at
Hopkins Hospital, where he received specialized training in
joint reconstruction surgery and then did a one-year
fellowship with David Hungerford before joining the faculty
in 1997. He concentrated on total hip and total knee
replacement surgery, the treatment of osteonecrosis,
revision surgery for failed joint replacements and the use
of cartilage transplantation. Some of these advanced
techniques incorporated the use of minimally invasive
approaches. He performed hundreds of hip replacements
through a four-inch incision rather than the standard 10 to
12 inches.
Frank Frassica, chairman of the Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery, said, "Dr. James Wenz was the most
brilliant innovator and technical surgeon ever to graduate
from the Johns Hopkins Orthopaedic Surgery Residency
Program. He was an advocate for resident education and
patient safety. He will be tremendously missed not only by
the Hopkins community but also on a regional and national
level. He was a true gentleman and was universally loved by
his patients, colleagues and friends."
Wenz's major areas of interest also included the care
of fractures in geriatric patients. He was conducting
research in alternative treatments of arthritis, joint
replacement surgery, cartilage transplant techniques and
osteonecrosis, as well as in reconstruction after failed
joint replacement surgery. He was a fellow of the American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Lidia Wenz received three degrees from the State
University of New York in Buffalo: a B.S. in nursing in
1983, a B.A. in psychology in 1984 and an M.D. in 1990. She
trained in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, serving as a
resident from July 1990 until 1993 and then completing a
fellowship in child psychiatry.
"Lidia was as good as they come," said Department of
Psychiatry Director Dr. J. Raymond DePaulo Jr. "She was one
of the best adult residents in her years of training and
then became a wonderful child psychiatrist. We all were
planning her return to the full-time faculty when her
children were older. She as well as her husband will be
sorely missed."
The Wenzes lived in Millersville, Md. A funeral
service was planned for Saturday, Jan. 24, in nearby
Pasadena. Plans for a memorial service were incomplete at
press time.
A memory book is being compiled for the Wenz children
by the book club that Lidia Wenz helped run. To share
written reflections or photographs, send them to Memory
Book/Chairman's Office, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery,
601 N. Caroline St., Suite 5215, Baltimore, MD
21287-0881.
Donations may be made to the James and Lidia Wenz
Memorial Fund, Johns Hopkins Department of Orthopaedic
Surgery, Fund for Johns Hopkins Medicine, 100 N. Charles
St., Suite 418, Baltimore, MD 21201.