FRANK L. PUTMAN

He received his medical degree in 1902 from the University of California. During his undergraduate days, he taught in the public schools in California and also served as deputy assessor in San Francisco.

Coming to Hawaii in 1903, Dr. Putman served as relief doctor at Kealia Plantation on Kauai. Sometime between 1907 and 1908 he became chief physician at Lihue Plantation, a position he held until he went on active duty in World War I. Following his war service, in 1918 or 1919, he became associated with Dr. A.G. Hodgins in Honolulu for a number of years.

Dr. Putman married Violet Happer Damon, daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. Frank W. Damon, in Honolulu on November 23, 1909. The Putmans had one daughter, Geraldine Putman Clark.

Dr. Putman was a major in the Medical Corps, 4th. Regiment, Hawaii National Guard. During World War I, he served as a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps Reserve and was in charge of surgery at the Ft. Shafter hospital.

The doctor was in general practice but devoted much of his time to surgery. He was one of the early fellows the American College of Surgeons, affiliating in 1914, a year after its founding. In middle-life he took post graduate work and specialized in dermatology, becoming the pioneer dermatologist of Hawaii.

Through his post graduate studies on the Continent he developed a knowledge of modern languages, which became a lifelong hobby. One of his favorite reference works was an eight-volume set entitled "La Nouvelle Pratique Dermatologique".

In later years he became interested in local business and served as a director of the Honolulu Gas Company and Pacific Refiners Ltd.

Dr. Putman died in Honolulu on February 11, 1956, at the age of 82.

He was a member of the American Medical Association, Hawaii Medical Association (president in 1921), Honolulu County Medical Society, American College of Surgeons and a charter member of the Hawaii Dermatological Society.

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