Who is Abe?
Abe’s Garden was named after Abram “Abe” C. Shmerling, M.D., a caring physician who concerned himself with the health and well-being of others, particularly the underserved. He led an active life until his retirement when Alzheimer’s began to ravage his mind and body over a period of 11 years.
After witnessing, along with his family, his father’s experience Michael D. Shmerling, Abram’s middle son, has taken on a mission to create Abe’s Garden, a nurturing and caring place in Nashville for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. He saw it appropriate to name such a place after his beloved father who enjoyed gardening. Use of the word “garden” was also appropriate because many Alzheimer’s patients like to wander. Abe’s Garden is being designed around a secure, outdoor courtyard so residents can wander in their own special garden setting as his father would have liked.
Dr. Shmerling was deeply invested in the people and community he loved. As a doctor of internal medicine, Dr. Shmerling committed a 45-year career to his patients, practicing in one of the poorest areas of Nashville, Tennessee, and staying there until his retirement. He established one of Nashville’s first fully integrated medical clinics in 1952, Woodbine Clinic, and was especially dedicated to the economically disadvantaged. He also worked with Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., the Metro Council and community leaders in the late 1970s to locate a site for Southern Hills Hospital, where he served as its first chairman of the board as well as on its founding medical staff.
After a long medical career serving the people of South Nashville, and after his children were grown, Alzheimer’s disease began to rob Dr. Shmerling of who he was. With each passing year, Alzheimer’s took something from him, however small, day by day, week by week, year by year until his passing on November 6, 2006. He was 79.
He is survived by his wife, Francis; sons, Jim, Michael and Rob; daughter, Judy, and 10 grandchildren.
Abram C. Shmerling, M.D.
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Abe's Garden is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.