Dr. Wilder Penfield - Personally

Dr. Penfield's personal life was closely tied with his professional life. His father and grandfather were both medical doctors, and his older sister Ruth suffered from a malignant brain tumor. Penfield, the leading neurosurgeon at the time, was called upon to perform surgery on his own sister. The procedure was unprecedented in its complexity, and most surgeons would not have attempted to remove Ruth's tumor. Dr. Penfield successfully removed the tumor, but unfortunately the malignant tumor returned and took Ruth's life three years later.

Voted "Best All-around Man" in university, and deemed one of the "Greatest Canadians", Dr. Penfield's best attribute, so he said, was his "tenacity of purpose".