Ernest J. Gentchos, a former clinical associate and clinician in orthopedic surgery in the Perelman School of medicine, died on March 27. He was 86.

Dr. Gentchos was born in Greece in 1937, and as a child, endured the Battle of Greece and the Greek Civil War. Dr. Gentchos and his mother emigrated to the U.S. in 1948. After graduating from Camden High School, he attended Benedictine University in Illinois. He then received his MD from St. Louis University and interned at Albert Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia. He took a hiatus from his medical career to serve in the U.S. Army with the First Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam, where he spent 13 months.

Upon his return, Dr. Gentchos came to Penn to complete his general surgery and orthopedic residency. He then did a fellowship in spine surgery at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. After launching a private practice in New Jersey, Dr. Gentchos returned to Penn in 1986 as a clinical associate in the orthopedic surgery department at the Perelman School of Medicine, teaching students and focusing on shoulder and elbow surgery. In 1998, he became a full-time faculty member at Penn, serving as a health systems physician in the orthopedic surgery department. As part of his duties, he staffed the nonoperative clinic in the shoulder and elbow service and staffed HUP’s general nonoperative clinic. During his time at Penn, Dr. Gentchos continued to serve the veteran community in Philadelphia, working part-time at the Veterans Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Gentchos retired in 2013.

“Dr. Gentchos’s commitment to education and lifelong learning is matched only by his generosity,” wrote his colleagues upon his retirement. “Fifteen years ago, he began endowing scholarships to medical students, undergraduates, and high school students. Currently, he funds scholarships for four medical students at two medical schools, two undergraduates, and one high school student. Over the years, Dr. Gentchos has enabled dozens of students to pursue their dreams. Scholarship recipients have gone into numerous fields, and they have given back as well. And many of them continue to keep in touch with the man whose generosity knows no bounds.”

Dr. Gentchos is survived by his wife; four children; six grandchildren; his extended family; and his colleagues and friends.