Michael L. Rachunis*

Michael Rachunis was born in 1906 in Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania, to Lithuanian immigrants. At 14, his father died and Rachunis left school to work in the local mines, earning $2.39 a day. At 21, he resumed his education as a freshman in high school.

Rachunis continued to work nights in the mines while earning a degree from Susquehanna University and graduating with honors. He studied medicine at Jefferson Medical College and graduated in 1936. Then he returned to his hometown to practice general medicine.

Later, Rachunis moved to New Jersey and completed graduate courses in ophthalmology and otolaryngology at Polyclinic Hospital, Columbia University, and New York University, while maintaining a private practice. He served three consecutive terms as president of the medical staff at Trenton General Hospital. He was also chief of the otolaryngology department at Rancocas Hospital.