Dr. Alan Pavel

He served in the Navy for two years then worked as a surgical resident at New York Hospital.

After more training, the desire for a milder climate brought him to Hawai'i in 1966 to work at The Straub Clinic. He later was associated with Orthopedic Associates of Hawai'i which exists today as Orthopedic Services Company.

Pavel was a longtime teacher at the University of Hawai'i School of Medicine and continued to lecture as recently as this summer. Pavel won the "Best Teacher of the Year" award in the orthopedic surgery division so many times that he was excluded from the competition.

Pavel worked at all of the state's major hospitals and held many key staff positions at The Queen's Medical Center.

Close friend and retired orthopedic specialist Dr. Lawrence Gordon, who met Pavel after he arrived in Hawai'i, said local orthopedic surgeons viewed Pavel as the state's "intellectual leader" in their field.

"I don't think there is any question about that," Gordon said. "He was as good as they come."

Pavel had a variety of interests, from history to art to carpentry, Gordon said. And Pavel, often a serious man, was one of the best joke-tellers Gordon has ever known.

For the past 13 years, the two men met weekly at The Wisteria to talk about medicine, history, politics and "every imaginable subject" over beer and sushi, Gordon said. But Gordon said his friend could be stubborn.

"If you argued about something and he was wrong, he rarely admitted it at the time but he would come back several days later or weeks later and admit that," Gordon said with a chuckle. "But I can argue, too."

Pavel is survived by his wife, Honey Pavel; son David Pavel; daughters Patty Lentz and Lisa Cohen; sisters Adele Scheiner and Nedda Wolff; and three grandchildren.

Visitation will be 5 p.m. Monday at Nuuanu Memorial Park & Mortuary. Memorial services will start at 6 p.m. Aloha attire.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hawaii Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation or The Contemporary Museum.