By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

James Mertz says he wanted to be a doctor since he was 4 or 5 years old. Now, at 74, after more than 40 years of practice in Kailua, the beloved pediatrician isn't altogether sure he wants to stop.

"I'd like maybe to do it forever, but that's not possible," he says. "I don't have a lot of enthusiasm about quitting."

The parents of his patients aren't nearly as understated about Mertz's decision. "I tell them he's planning to retire and they are just, 'Good God, NO!' " says Erma Teves, who has been Mertz's receptionist for the past nine years. She can hardly talk about her boss leaving without getting tears in her eyes.

Parents are effusive when they speak of the man who treated their babies and eased their worries. They say things like, "He saved my children's lives" and "He helped me raise my kids into strong, healthy individuals." They talk about how grateful they've been to have Mertz's calm guidance close at hand.

Dr. James Mertz, who is retiring after more than 40 years, will leave his practice to Dr. Brit Reis, background. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I try to see anybody and everybody," Mertz says. "I'm flattered that they want to come see me."

Maureen Purington, mother of four "Mertz kids," says in her house, the saying goes, "Call Dr. Mertz when it hurts!"

Mom Tricia Forsythe expressed the gratitude that many have felt. "When we first started seeing Dr. Mertz as new parents," Forsythe said, "we asked him all the typical silly new-parent questions. He never laughed or made us feel stupid."

Teves is a "Mertz Mom," who has benefited from the doctor's gentle wisdom. "I can remember one time I brought Kristofer in to see Dr. Mertz because I swear his ears did not work. Dr. Mertz whispered in his ear 'Do you want some ice cream?' and of course Kristofer said 'Yes Dr. Mertz, I would love some ice cream.' Dr. Mertz turned to me and said, 'Well my diagnosis is Parental Hearing.' "

Mertz makes light of his nerves-of-steel reputation. "If the parents are flappable, I'd better be unflappable," he says.

Teves sees it otherwise. To her, the doctor is something of a superman. In the years she has worked for him, she says she has never seen him get angry or lose his temper. She says he has amazing instincts about when to chalk up a symptom to something minor and when to take a problem seriously. And there was only one day she could remember when Mertz had to cancel appointments because he wasn't feeling well.

"Yeah, I get sick. But I just sort of ignore it," Mertz says. "I tell parents there's no kid in Waimanalo, Kailua or Kane'ohe that can give me something I haven't had."

The tall, soft-spoken man has treated generations of Windward children. He has patients who are the children of children he used to treat, and "children of children of children. And I think we have a couple of great-grandchildren." He has nine children, all raised in Kailua with wife Elizabeth. Two of his sons are also pediatricians. David has his practice in North Carolina, and Bob is in Seattle on a neonatology fellowship. "He wants to take care of those little itty bitty guys," Mertz says. One of his daughters is a dancer with the Joffrey Ballet.

It's partly because of his own kids that he's retiring. "Eight of our nine children are on the Mainland," he says, "and at my age, you think about spending more time with them."

But perhaps the biggest factor in his decision to retire was that he found a replacement he felt was worthy of his patients. Dr. Brit Reis, a mother of two and a graduate of Cornell University's Medical College, also Mertz's alma mater, is heir to the Mertz legacy.

"I found a wonderful pediatrician to take my practice and I thought this was a good opportunity to leave my patients in good hands," Mertz says. The transition is already under way, with the two sharing the Kailua office space until Mertz officially steps aside on Dec. 31.

Teves is planning a retirement party to give all of Mertz's patients, past and present, a chance to say aloha. The event is a potluck to be held Nov. 10, from 1 to 6 p.m. at Kailua Beach Park. The plan is to assign food to families by last name: A-L, main dishes, M-Z side dishes.

Mertz looks a little uncomfortable about all the fuss. "She won't let me just slip quietly out of town," he says, shaking a finger at Teves.

"He says to me, oh Erma, who's gonna' show up? It'll just be the staff," Teves says.

"I don't think he realizes how many lives he's touched in 40 years."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.