PEORIA MAGAZINE July 2022

A request to the surgeon general of the Army produced a dispensation and early retirement after a highly decorated career in which he would reach the rank of colonel. “That was my dream job,” said Pearl, who would meet his future wife, Lauretta, a pediatric nurse practitioner there. “If you’d told me I was going to leave Toronto for a job in Peoria, I’d say you were smoking funny cigarettes.” A leadership change in Toronto compelled Pearl to begin applying elsewhere. San Diego looked promising. He’d never stepped foot in Peoria. “They wanted somebody to build a program and help build a hospital … but I wasn’t sure if they were serious,” Pearl recalled. His final interview was with Sister Judith Ann Duvall, Major Superior of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis and chairwoman of OSF HealthCare. “I told her, ‘It has to happen in my surgical lifetime.’ She smiled and said, ‘Dr. Pearl, if you agree to come … it will happen in your surgical lifetime.’ “So, I came.” In 1998, Pearl arrived at OSF as its lone full-time pediatric surgeon, on call nightly for an exhausting two years. In time, thanks to his recruiting efforts, other surgeons joined him. In 2007, ground was broken on Children’s Hospital. On July 16, 2010, the $280 million building was dedicated. Sister Judith Ann was at the podium, “and the last line of her speech … she turns to me and says, ‘Now, Dr. Pearl, you can’t retire.’ “She remembered.” Peoria became home. The Pearls adopted a daughter here, Emily, now 22. And every single day he walked into Children’s Hospital, “I felt good,” said Pearl. “Every day I drove down 74 and looked at the building, I felt good. How could I not? It’s like my baby.” A MEMORABLE PATIENT Fifteen years ago, a young girl from the Chicago area was badly injured in an ATV accident in Fulton County and

transported to Children’s Hospital. Pearl would run into her distraught father in a hospital elevator and reassure him that his daughter was in very good hands. His. The DiSommas were grateful, and generous. They stayed in touch. During one visit, Bill DiSomma — co-founder of Jump Trading Group, headquartered in Chicago – asked what additional needs OSF might have. Pearl had an idea. As a pilot, he knew that aviators routinely do simulation exercises before ever jumping in a cockpit. Imagine if a doctor could virtually map a patient’s body and rehearse the surgery beforehand. Fewer surprises. Less risk. Practice makes perfect. He and others from OSF returned to Chicago with a presentation. Over lunch, DiSomma quizzed him, including on the price tag. “I said, ‘I’m not sure, Bill. I think something like $25 million. And he took a bite of sushi, looked me in the eye and said, ‘We can do that.’ And that was that. … That’s Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center opened in 2013 and it has been a game changer – for its R&D, its economic development potential, its top-notch talent. “That buildingmakes a difference, not just to OSF HealthCare,” said Pearl. “It makes a difference around the country and around the world.” ‘ONE IN A MILLION’ In January, the Pearls left Peoria to be closer to family in suburban Cleveland, specifically to Rick’s daughter from a previous marriage, Amanda, and their three grandchildren. Emily has joined them. Another daughter, Sarah, lives in Colorado. He’s had some health challenges, and he credits his wife of nearly 32 years with getting him through it: “She’s better than I deserve.” He is not fully retired but has time to how we got our Sim Center. “Serendipity at its finest.”

reflect on a lifetime of accomplishment, even if not as much as he’d have liked. “Your legacy is who you’ve touched. The children you’ve cured. The people you’ve trained,” said Pearl. “It’s not the buildings. It’s the people, stupid.” He’ll tell you that he had the two best jobs in the military – flying in combat and running a combat hospital – and the best job in medicine. “What I did in Vietnam was very analogous to what I did as a surgeon …making sure that Bill and Joe and Charlie would get home to their mom at the end of the day.” Still, he never felt as if he quite “fit the mold,” as a soldier or doctor. “I was always shaking the cage a bit. “I just believed certain things were right, and certain things were wrong, and you had to stand up for what you believed was right. In modern day America, that’s not the way to be sometimes. That’s OK. I have to get up and look myself in the mirror … “At times I really did get myself in a pickle, I must say.” For many, it seems, all is forgiven. This time, they get the last word. “From the first time I set eyes on Dr. Pearl, interviewing him as he was considering an offer to come to OSF … I loved that man!” said Sister Judith Ann. “There was something very special about him, even as he sat there, pointing his finger at me and demanding that I promise him we would build a new children’s hospital. … I told him to come on board and help us make it happen. “He was a tiger right from the start, driving such unbelievable accomplish ments … How can I not love that man?” “Dr. Pearl’s tenacity is only surpassed by his compassion,” added Mike Wells, president of Children’s Hospital. “I’m honored to have served alongside him.” Finally, “Dr. Pearl has been a visionary andmentor to the DiSomma family,” the latter said in a statement. “Dr. Pearl, you are one in a million. … We are so grateful to have you in our lives.”

Mike Bailey is editor in chief of Peoria Magazine

JULY 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE 47