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Obituary

Area kidney patients owe debt to doctor

In the 1960s, Dr. Felix LoCicero helped bring the first kidney dialysis machine to the Tampa Bay area.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published October 7, 2005

DR. FELIX LOCICERO, 1933-2005

SWANN ESTATES - Countless kidney patients in the Tampa Bay area owe their lives to Dr. Felix LoCicero.

Dr. LoCicero was a pioneering physician in Tampa. In the 1960s, he was instrumental in bringing the first kidney dialysis machine to the Tampa Bay area. Before then, anyone who needed regular dialysis had to move to another city.

He died Sept. 27 after suffering a stroke. He was 71.

"He was a very rare kind of doctor," said his close friend and colleague Dr. Dimitri Papachristou. "He was very dedicated, and he was always up to date. Even just before his retirement, he was familiar with the newest developments in his field. It was like he had graduated from his residency program yesterday. That's very unusual."

In the medical community, Dr. LoCicero was known for his exceptional dedication to patients. He attended Christ the King Catholic Church every morning before work and still arrived at the hospital earlier than most other doctors.

"He was the kind of guy who just loved to practice medicine," Papachristou said.

To his close friends, Dr. LoCicero's dedication was even more impressive because he had suffered a devastating loss. His daughter Sharon was killed in a car crash in the 1970s while studying law in Georgia. Emotionally, Dr. LoCicero never fully recovered.

"I look at him as a role model because he maintained his practice and his family," Papachristou said. "He kept his composure and his dignity, and he never complained."

Dr. LoCicero was born in Ybor City. His parents were Sicilian immigrants; his father was a barber, and his mother worked in a cigar factory.

Because of his modest upbringing, he always placed a premium on education and hard work - values he passed on to his six children.

"His big thing was education," said daughter Devoney LoCicero. "For an immigrant, the number one thing is to learn the language, and the second is to get an education for your kids. He fulfilled his parents' dream, and he instilled those same values in us."

Dr. LoCicero graduated from the University of Tampa, earned his medical degree at the University of Miami and returned to Tampa to start his practice. He was affiliated with Tampa General, Memorial and St. Joseph's hospitals and also maintained a private practice in South Tampa near Memorial Hospital.

He was always interested in kidney disease but began as an internist because the specialty of nephrology didn't exist at that time. But as medicine became more specialized, he became a leader in nephrology throughout the southeastern United States. Up until his retirement three years ago, he was a coveted speaker at medical schools and conferences.

He was also devoted to the cultural traditions of his Sicilian heritage. His home always hosted extended family for holiday celebrations, which were filled with Italian music and food.

His other passions included cooking, ham radio and old horror movies. His huge collection of classic horror films still dominates one large room of his house in Swann Estates.

Dr. LoCicero had been in declining health in recent years. Family members suspect he had cancer, but he declined to seek even basic medical treatment.

Daughter Karon LoCicero said she thought her father didn't have as much will to live after he retired.

Besides his two daughters, Dr. LoCicero is survived by his wife, Ann, another daughter, Cindy Runyan, sons Steven and Joseph, and eight grandchildren.

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 08:25:09]