Donald M. Werner

Donald “Doc” Werner was born on November 2, 1933, at Binghamton General Hospital in Binghamton, New York, to his late parents, Dr. Irving Werner and Mrs. Freda Werner. He grew up in Chenango Forks and then in Binghamton. As a child, Don was already developing his well-known sense of humor by often engaging in zany experiments and pranks with his younger brothers, Richard “Dick” Werner and Murray Werner, who predecease him. Don continued to display this boundless sense of humor and adventurous streak throughout his long life.

He attended the University of Vermont before being accepted by SUNY Upstate Medical University, thanks to his great intellect and a letter of recommendation written by none other than Richard Feyman, a Noble Prize-winning pioneer in theoretical physics. Don received his medical degree in 1959, beginning a more than 50-year love affair with helping others through the practice of medicine.

He interned at Johns Hopkins Bayview in Baltimore, Maryland before being drafted into the United States Air Force in 1960, at the inception of the conflict in Vietnam. He served as a flight medical officer, flying more than 47 combat missions to rescue and evacuate wounded American and Vietnamese casualties in C-123s and helicopters. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1963, having attained the rank of captain. His discharge papers describe a young man whom those who later knew him can easily recognize: “A keen, capable individual, eager to learn, who unhesitatingly takes on new problems and assumes responsibility with a determination. His cheerful attitude and pleasing personality top off a well-rounded young doctor.”

After his military discharge, Don decided to follow in his father, Irving’s, footsteps and specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. He was an OB/GYN resident at Mt. Sinai in New York City from 1963-1967, before returning to Binghamton to join his father’s practice. He went on to work in the field into his 80s at hospitals throughout Binghamton, including the hospital in which he himself was born.

By the end of his career, Don had delivered over 14,000 babies. In a December 2016 article, published following Don’s retirement from OB/GYN practice in the Binghamton Press & Sun, patients described him as being not only a doctor, but also a friend, a man whose sense of humor and kindness helped them through the most difficult times of pregnancy and delivery. Don was repeatedly

recognized and awarded for his work, including in 2016, when he received the Maternal Child Health Award from the Mothers & Babies Perinatal Network of South Central New York, which recognized his “exceptional effort, dedication, and passion in the field perinatal and maternal health care.”

But Don did not deliver babies for awards, he did so out of love. When Katie Sullivan, the author of the Binghamton Press & Son article referenced above, asked him how he was able to practice obstetrics for so long and bring so many children into the world, he responded with a characteristic grin and shrug of his shoulders, “It’s fun. Babies are fun”, he said.

In 1981, Don married the love of his life, a beautiful redhead named Gene. They spent over 44 years together, a nurse and a doctor, having discussions at the dinner table that only someone in the medial field could appreciate (or stomach). Don loved medicine but he loved his wife with the same ardor, and Gene will deeply miss her best friend.

Don loved bawdy jokes, action and horror movies, precious metals, math problems, new theories in physics and cosmology, and scratch-off lottery tickets. He traveled the world, setting foot on almost every continent, and seeing places that are unknown to most of us, including Thule (now, Pituffik), Greenland, where the average high temperature during the summer months is 40° Fahrenheit. He was a great listener but a great storyteller too. Don’s stories, though uncommon, captivated those who heard them because it was hard to see how any man could have seen and lived what he saw and lived during his long life. When asked for advice on life, Don responded that we should always live life to the fullest, no matter what anyone thinks, and admire its beauty along the way because life is beautiful.

Don is survived by his wife Gene; his children, Julie, Michael, Jonathan, and Sean; and his many grandchildren.

The family will receive friends at the St. Francis of Assisi Church, 1049 Chenango Street, Binghamton, NY 13901 on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. A Funeral Mass will be offered at 11a.m., followed by Don’s burial at the Calvary Cemetery in Johnson City, New York.