Obituary: Dr. Frederick Hass, 97, founder of North Clinic in the Twin Cities

Dr. Frederick M. Hass was a patient's doctor, quick on his feet during the most trying of times.

When he was a young doctor, a patient at his tiny family practice in Jordan, Minn., was losing a lot of blood as she gave birth to twins. There was no time to take her to the city for help, so Hass had to act quickly.

After testing for blood type compatibility, he gave her a transfusion of his own blood. In fact, he gave her so much blood that he momentarily fainted.

He delivered the second baby as an ambulance arrived. Mother and twins were healthy.

"He was a devoted doctor and loved his job," said his daughter Marilyn Krambeer. "He definitely went above and beyond."

During his 34-plus-year career, Hass delivered thousands of babies. At 95, he still had his doctor's license, even though he had retired from practicing medicine in 1983, Krambeer said.

Hass died on Sept. 23 at his daughter's home. He was 97.

Hass left his Jordan practice in 1951 and moved his family to Minneapolis, then to Golden Valley in 1952 to temporarily cover the practice of a friend who was serving in the Korean War.

The plan was that when Dr. John Giebenhain returned, Hass and he would take turns covering the practice as the other doctor completed his residency. But that didn't happen.

Instead, Hass and Giebenhain later opened North Clinic in Robbinsdale — the first in north Minneapolis and the northwest suburbs to have specialists. By 1963, the founders added other doctors with specialties to the roster: an internist, an OB-GYN and a surgeon.

Now North Clinic has more than 60 physicians and other licensed health care providers, and five clinics.

Hass also served as chief of staff at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale in 1967 and a term as chief of the Family Practice Department at Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, now Abbott Northwestern.

His musicality didn't stop there. He had been a violinist in the North High School orchestra — a passion he passed on to Marilyn's seven children, who also became violinists.

It was hard for his grandchildren to escape his home without a piece of candy — to the chagrin of their parents, said son-in-law Rich Krambeer. He "treated his grandkids like princes and princesses," he said.

One of Marilyn's favorite childhood memories was of her father creating an ice rink in their Golden Valley backyard in the winter. Winter nights after work, Hass would flood a portion of the yard and the kids would wake up to their very own ice rink.

Years later, at Marilyn's 50th high school reunion, former neighborhood kids brought up that ice rink and other memories from the Hass home, she said.

In addition to daughter Marilyn, Hass is survived by another daughter, Carol M. Roden; a son, James Hass; 18 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Orpha, and sons Frederick Jr. and John.