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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Oct '89
Murray Putzer No.15402 Class of 1946 Died 16 July
1987 in West Caldwell, New Jersey, aged 65 years,
Interment: Woodbridge, New Jersey |
Murray was born on 24 October 1921 in Brooklyn,
New York. Both of his parents had emigrated to this country from
Galicia, Poland. At an early age, his family moved to New Jersey.
He graduated from high school in Elizabeth, New Jersey. An early
school trip to West Point impressed Murray, and from that time
forward his ambition was to become a cadet. After high school
he attended Newark College of Engineering. He was drafted in
1942 and while in the Army attended Texas A&M College. In
1943, Murray received his appointment to West Point and fulfilled
his ambition by joining the class of 1946.
Cadet life was a breeze for Murray. He was gifted
academically and spent a good deal of his time coaching his less
gifted classmates. The "Tacs" knew him as a good soldier,
a conscientious straight arrow. He loved informal "bull
sessions" and was unsurpassed as a debater in that arena.
His good sense of humor didn't let cadet pressure get him down;
he was always upbeat. One of his company mates remembers Murray
as an outstanding "human being."
Murray was commissioned in the Signal Corps, and
after the usual schools, was assigned to the 58th Signal Battalion
in Japan. He returned to the States in 1949 to get his master's
in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois. A tour
at the Pentagon in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer followed,
then a tour in Korea. After Korea, Murray taught at Worcester
Polytechnic in Massachusetts. In 1956 it looked like our class
would be perennial captains as a result of the World War II promotion
hump. So Murray, like so many others, decided to try life as
a civilian and resigned his commission.
With his electrical engineering background, Murray
became a senior engineer with the Bendix Corporation. He later
joined Varian International as an electrical engineer. Murray
loved his work and was particularly proud to have played an instrumental
part in the design of the altimeter for the Supersonic Transport
and in the development of the Landing Excursion Module for the
Apollo moon landing. In 1958 he married Dolly and they had three
children: Mike, Janet, and Helene. Living in New Jersey, Murray
loved gardening and spent a great deal of time with his children.
An avid reader, he was a true "renaissance man." His
quiet and gentle demeanor, coupled with a tendency to downplay
his accomplishments, allowed only his close friends and family
to know the brilliance of his mind and his intense loyalty to
them. To have known Murray was a privilege, to have been his
wife was a joy and an honor; his family adored him and his loss
is a tragedy they will never get over.
"He taught us how to live. He taught us how to die."
This was his family's epitaph for Murray Putzer,
delivered by the rabbi at Murray's funeral. How Murray lived
is described above; the unusual legal aspects of his death have
been elaborated by his attorney, Bardin Levavy, who said, "I
would like to thank you for the opportunity to write about Murray.
He was an extraordinary man who died in an extraordinary way."
Mr. Levavy's story follows:
"In December 1983 Murray Putzer suffered a
stroke which separated his mind from his body. His mind was intact;
his body was virtually inert. Between that time and July 1984,
he underwent various unsuccessful forms of therapy. In August
1984, after be had suffered two additional 'insults to the central
nervous system,' he was discharged from his last hospital and
brought home, where he remained for the three years preceding
his death on 16 July 1987.
"From the date of his discharge until his
death, his sole links to others were through his ability to blink
his eyes and nod his head. He required 24 hour nursing care.
He was maintained mechanically through a gastrostomy tube, through
which his nourishment passed, and a tracheostomy tube, suctioning
of which prevented his death by choking. He was maintained spiritually
through the 24 hour efforts of an unusually caring wife and family.
"Murray and Dolly Putzer developed a method
of communication through the use of nods and blinks which became
so sophisticated that a professional who examined Murray indicated
to Dolly that she would use some of the techniques in her own
practice. Even though Murray had no physical control, he was
able to maintain communication with others in a manner which
amazed all who were party to it. Despite these and similar prodigies
of communication, Murray's life was continued against his will.
From the beginning, he had been made aware of his condition and
its prognosis--that, with proper care, his life expectancy was
not significantly less than that of any other man of his age.
but that his condition would not improve.
"From the beginning, Murray had been opposed
to extraordinary efforts to preserve his life. While he was a
man of outstanding intellect, physical activity had always constituted
a major part of his life. Deprived of that activity, stricken
into a state in which it was impossible, Murray Putzer had lost
his desire to live. His desire to die was bred neither of depression
nor of frustration, but of an acknowledgment that, to him, the
limited life which he was required to live was not a life at
all.
"By August 1986, all vestige of hope had left
both Murray (from whom it had departed much earlier) and his
family (who clung to him from both a powerful love and an equally
powerful desire to communicate with him to the full extent of
his possibilities). In fulfillment of a promise made much earlier,
Dolly and the children, at Murray's request, commenced an action
in the Superior Court of New Jersey to allow discontinuance of
Murray's gastrostomy and to permit him to die as a natural consequence
of his illness, at home with his family.
"The legal issue posed by the lawsuit was
simple. 'Can a competent patient direct the course of his medical
care?' Despite the simplicity of the question and the apparent
obviousness of the answer, the question was complicated by the
mortal consequences of an affirmative answer in cases such as
Murray's. Indeed, the question had been asked only once before
in New Jersey under similar circumstances-and that case was in
the process of being decided by the New Jersey Supreme Court
at the time the Putzer case was brought. All prior 'right to
die' cases in the State had concerned patients of various degrees
of incompetence.
"The very obviousness of the answer was the
reason for the relative novelty of the legal issue. Prior 'right
to die' cases had affirmed a competent patient's right to control
his own course of treatment. The right was based in the common
law and was therefore as old as the republic. However, where
this right would he exercised in such a manner as to produce
the death of the patient, societal concerns mandated that the
question be considered by the courts. Prior to filing the complaint,
it was read to Murray in its substance. He approved it. An affidavit
which was executed by Dolly on Murray's behalf was read to him,
paragraph by paragraph. He approved it. The papers were filed
and the question of whether Murray Putzer would be the master
of his fate was placed in the hands of a judge.
"The first day of the hearing was conducted
at Murray's bedside, where he gave testimony by answering questions
'yes' or 'no' by nodding his head. However harrowing an experience
it was to the judge, attorneys, and members of Murray's family
who were present, for Murray it must have been so painful as
to defy expression. But that hearing and Murray's response to
it were a testament to his bravery and purpose. The questions
put to him by the judge and counsel were short, to the point
and unambiguous: 'Do you realize that if you do this, you will
never see your grandchildren again?' While under questioning,
although he emitted signs of severe anguish, he never wavered.
He recognized the consequences of what he intended to do and
intended to do it nevertheless. No military experience could
have provided a similar test of nerve under fire.
"Decision in the Putzer case was delayed pending
the decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in the case to be
heard before it on similar issues. On 24 June 1987, the New Jersey
Supreme Court issued its opinions, one of which clearly required
the judge in Murray's case to rule in favor of Murray's right
to choose his medical treatment. The order in Murray's case was
entered in the morning of 9 July 1987. Later that day, as required
by the order, Murray was asked once again if he wished to have
his gastrostomy discontinued. For the last time, he responded
that he did. The feeding tube was discontinued that evening.
Murray Putzer died quietly, peacefully, at home and among his
family, in the early afternoon of 16 July1987."
Murray, like the rest of us as cadets, probably
wondered how he would stand up to a battlefield situation. Although
on a different battlefield, Murray displayed a bravery and courage
that must be unique. Murray, your classmates salute you!
'46 Memorial Article Project and his wife Dolly
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