Leabert Fernandez, plastic surgeon, dead at 91

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Leabert Roberts Fernandez, the son of Hawai'i showman E.K. Fernandez and one of the first plastic surgeons in Hawai'i, died May 29 at Ann Pearl Nursing Facility in Kane'ohe. He was 91.

Fernandez was born May 14, 1911, in Honolulu and was the youngest of six children of E.K. Fernandez and Lydia Roberts Fernandez.

Fernandez graduated from Punahou and worked at his father's carnivals for a stint before graduating from the University of Utah and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo.

In the 1940s, Fernandez served as a plantation doctor on the Big Island in Laupahoehoe and also worked at Aiea Hospital treating victims of the Pearl Harbor attack.

On April 1, 1946, he rescued a woman, Marsue McGinnis, when a tidal wave hit Laupahoehoe and swept her down the Hamakua Coast. McGinnis later became his first wife and Fernandez earned the Presidential Medal of Merit for bravery for his rescue.

As a plastic surgeon, Fernandez performed surgery on accident victims and worked in Guam performing free surgery on children with cleft palates and cleft lips.

"He loved his work," said his daughter Linda. "He was quite a quiet sort, he didn't stick with the entertainment side, but he did so much good for people."

Fernandez was also the surgeon who perfected the double eyelid surgery that appealed to Asians, his daughter said.

"He was more than just a doctor," said his wife Florence. "He really cared about how his patients felt after surgery. He got a lot of satisfaction from doing his work."

Fernandez is survived by his wife, Florence; sons, Leabert Jr., Tracy, Timothy and Sean; daughters, Linda, Holly and Farrah; grandchildren, Erin, Kirk and Tani; and half-sister, Kulani.

Visitation will be from 5:30 to 9 p.m. tomorrow at Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary; service 7 p.m. Inurnment 10 a.m. Thursday at Hawaiian Memorial Park.