Friends and family fondly remembered Dr. Joseph C. Orlando for the motto by which he lived: “to heal the body is to heal the soul.”
The longtime Baltimore plastic surgeon and parishioner of Immaculate Conception in Towson died June 20. He was one of the 2023 recipients of the Archdiocese of Baltimore Medals of Honor, the DuBourg-Pacione Medal, for his work in establishing the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Maryland.
His wife of 62 years, Dolores Orlando, told the Catholic Review that his unexpected death in his sleep at age 85 was peaceful, “as we all want to go.”
She said her husband regularly prayed for and with his patients if they agreed, whatever their religious background. “He would pray with anybody,” she said with pride.
A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he returned from medical residencies in California and New York and created the plastic surgery department at Baltimore’s Good Samaritan Hospital. He served as chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery and medical director of the Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Healing Center at Good Samaritan. He also served as an assistant professor in plastic surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and wrote or co-authored about 20 papers.
The Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Maryland was created to strengthen men’s spirituality and foster leadership in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Current president Dennis Narango said Orlando “was the driving force” in building the fellowship for 25 years.
In its early days when the membership was around 150 participants, Dolores Orlando said her husband joined the group soon after the family returned to Baltimore from his medical residencies, when the fellowship was meeting in a parish basement.
“He heard a clear voice from God asking him ‘what are you going to do to help”’ she said.
He responded to that call by helping build up the organization to more than 1,000 participants just before the COVID-19 pandemic affected its programs, Narango said. The group has built up again and Narango said he expects the next gathering will again draw more than 1,000 participants for its annual conference
Narango said Orlando was “a driving force” and “an early, essential leader.” He said Orlando took a hands-on approach to recruiting participants, visiting parishes around the archdiocese to promote the group, leaving posters for upcoming events.
Baltimore Archbishop William Lori said Orlando was “not only a devoted husband and father and a gifted surgeon, but he was also a man whose faith and leadership helped build the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Maryland, which has awakened countless other husbands and fathers to renewed faith and service. Joe will be greatly missed.”
Along with Gilbert Hoffman, Orlando was honored when the Archdiocesan Medal of Honor was reestablished as a regular award in 2023, after recent history of irregular conferrals. The Dubourg-Pacione Award recognizes lay people who have greatly affected the work of evangelization.
Father Gregory Rapisarda, Dolores Orlando’s brother, said Orlando was “a wonderful, very compassionate surgeon,” whose approach to life echoed the Good Samaritan of Scripture, who went out of his way to help a stranger in need.
Born May 22, 1940, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Joseph Orlando was raised in the Hamilton section of Baltimore, attending St. Dominic School, two years of high school at the former St. Charles Seminary and graduating from Loyola Blakefield. He majored in biology at what was then Loyola College, competing on the diving team, before starting medical school.
Dolores Orlando said her husband started a newspaper at the University of Maryland School of Medicine “on our living room floor.” The publication evolved and lives on as the University of Maryland Medicine Bulletin, she said.
In addition to being active parishioners at Immaculate Conception, the Orlandos have been been involved in the Lamb of God Community in Catonsville and have been members of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three of their four children, ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, and three siblings.
Visitation will be held at Ruck Towson Funeral Home, 1050 York Road in Towson, on June 27, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. A funeral Mass will be offered June 28 at 10 a.m., at Immaculate Conception, 200 Ware Ave., Towson.
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