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© St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Dr. Charles E. Aucremann, a prominent St. Petersburg physician and champion of family medicine, died Sunday (May 26, 2002) at Bayfront Medical Center. He was 85.
His career included more than 50 years of community service, including 20 as a medical educator. His family described him as a humble and quiet man who dedicated countless hours to his patients.
"He was probably the last doctor to make regular house calls," said Dr. Aucremann's son, Stephen.
Dr. Aucremann advocated a broader view of medicine and examining how patients are affected by family relationships. He earned praise for what was considered a visionary role in developing a model for family practice physicians, his son said.
"He put the effort into making it happen instead of just talking about it," his son said.
An internist, Dr. Aucremann served in the Navy as a medical officer during World War II. He returned to St. Petersburg in 1949 and established a private practice in internal medicine and gastroenterology.
"I realized very quickly I was not prepared to take care of people as they should be taken care of as an internist," he said in 1994, the year he retired.
Being a doctor had been his dream "as far back as I can remember," Dr. Aucremann said.
"But the good Lord didn't just make me a gastroenterologist," he said. He would care for the whole person. "When patients would tell me of other problems, I just couldn't say, 'That isn't my field.' "
After joining the faculty of the University of South Florida in 1972, he helped set up a family practice residency at Bayfront Medical Center for his students. He directed the residency program until 1988. In addition to serving as chief of staff and chief of medical service at Bayfront, Dr. Aucremann was chairman of USF's Department of Family Medicine from 1980 to 1992.
Charles Aucremann came to St. Petersburg as a 6-year-old from West Virginia, his birthplace. He received his associate's degree from St. Petersburg Junior College and both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Emory University in Atlanta.
Worried about the departure of many doctors to specialized practices, the American Medical Association in 1969 established family practice as a medical specialty.
To develop a local family-practice residency program, Bayfront Medical Center turned to Dr. Aucremann, who had been active in the medical education department at Bayfront when it was the city-owned Mound Park Hospital.
Because Dr. Aucremann was in private practice, he agreed to take the job part time. But, he later said, "It became 95 percent part time."
In recognition of his work, Bayfront honored him by hanging his portrait in the hospital.
The St. Petersburg Bar Association gave him its Liberty Bell award in 1989 for public service, including membership on the boards of the United Way and the Pinellas County Cancer Society.
Survivors include his wife, Marjorie; his son, Stephen, and Stephen's wife, Lonnie, both of St. Petersburg; two brothers, Robert of St. Petersburg and Frank of Atlanta; two stepsons, Richard Sauers of St. Petersburg and Harry Sauers of Belleair; three grandchildren, Jason and Katie of St. Petersburg, and David of Wellington; and two great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be Friday at 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 701 Beach Drive NE.
-- This report contains information from Times files and the Tampa Tribune.