Dr. Luis Antonio Balart lost his courageous battle with cancer in Boston during the early morning hours of Monday, January 14. Luis was a mentor to all in life, and a mentor of the highest order in medicine. He was born on October 20, 1948 in Havana, Cuba to Isabel Wall and Dr. Louis Antonio Balart. He spent his childhood in Cuba and immigrated to the United States in 1961, where the family settled in New Orleans. After graduating from Redemptorist High School, he attended Louisiana State University and graduated from Louisiana State Medical Center, New Orleans in 1973. In medical school, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served for 20 years as a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserves. He completed his internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, followed by a residency in Internal Medicine at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Philadelphia and F. Edward Hebert Hospital in New Orleans. He completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Ochsner Clinic and a fellowship in Hepatology at the University of Southern California. He then began a distinguished career in gastroenterology, hepatology and liver transplant in New Orleans at Ochsner, Southern Baptist Hospital/Memorial Medical Center, Louisiana State University Medical Center and Tulane University Medical Center. He served as Chief of the Department of Gastroenterology at both LSUMC and Tulane. An active member of the American College of Gastroenterology, he served as President of the College and Chairman for the Board of Governors. He was recognized as a Master Fellow by the College. He was also a founding member of the Chronic Liver Disease Foundation and co-authored the bestselling SugarBusters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat. His legacy in medicine will live on through the countless physicians he trained over his nearly forty-year career as doctor and professor.
He is survived by his loving wife Muffin and his sister Alina (Segundo Fernandez). He was the adored father of Etienne (Kate), Truitt (Meredith), Carter (Dena), and Anne (Wes Michaels), and was the proud grandfather of thirteen grandchildren: Etienne, Jr., Isabel, Cecilia, William, and Merrill Lucy Balart; Lillian, Truitt, and Caroline Balart; Charlotte, James, and Lee Balart; Louis and Wilson Michaels. He will be remembered for his brilliant mind, keen wit, sense of humor, infinite compassion, and his love of LSU football, the New York Yankees and history. The family wishes to express our deepest gratitude to the Tulane Department of Oncology, Drs. Nakhle Saba and Hana Safah, and the Dana Farber Cancer Center, Drs. Ted Allyea, Ken Anderson and Marlise Luskin. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Tulane University Medical Center toward the establishment of the Luis A. Balart, MD Memorial Lecture Fund, c/o Tulane Gastroenterology Department, 1430 Tulane Ave., SL35 New Orleans, LA 70112.
Services will be held on Monday, January 21, 2019, at St. Francis Xavier Church, 444 Metairie Road, at 1:00 pm, with a visitation beginning at 10:00 am. Burial to follow in Metairie Cemetery.
Taken too soon but having touched many, he reminds everyone to “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”
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