USD Magazine Spring 2009

FAMILY AFFAIR

b y T i f f a n y F o x

or some people, success is marked by a clear pinnacle, a point on the mountaintop where they can stop pushing the rock uphill and consider the mission accomplished. Then there are those like Michael Bajo. Even after achieving

“A deeply spiritual Catholic,” according to USD professor emerita Sister Pat Shaffer, Bajo sent his children to Catholic grammar schools and Marian High School (now Mater Dei High). When it came time for them to head off to college, he encouraged them to attend USD. Because his own father never had the chance to pursue higher educa- tion, Bajo always stressed the importance of earning a college degree to his children. “He used to say his best investment was his kids,” Michael Jr. says. “He never pressured us to attend USD specifically, but he had attended a Catholic university, so it was a tradition kind of thing. But USDwasn't cheap, even back then. Putting that many kids through college was an amazing feat.” At one point during the 1970s, four Bajo children were matriculating at USD: Stephen Bajo ’72 (now a physician in internal medicine), Michael Bajo Jr. ‘73 (now owner of Bajo Construction), Philip Bajo ’74 (now a cardi- ologist) and Mary (Bajo) Reardon ’75 (now an OB/GYN). Their father pur- chased a home near USD for all the children to live in; Michael Jr. considers those years to be an especially memorable time in his life. “Some of us had classes together once in a while, which was kind of fun and made things easier,” he muses. “It was someone to study with. Back then everybody knew us in the department, but we were individuals. We had a lot of similar characteristics, but I think we also had a lot of diversity within our family.” Retired chemistry professor Jack Opdycke recalls having both Michael Jr. and Philip in his class. “The thing I can say unequivocally about the two of them is that they're such quality people," he says. “And that's the essence of what I heard about the rest of the family. They had quite a reputation at USD.” Several of the Bajo kids were known for their abilities in sports: Michael Jr. played basketball, Stephen played basketball and baseball, Philip played baseball and their sister, Ruth ’89 (M.Ed. ’91) was on the volleyball team. Sister Shaffer, who taught five members of the Bajo clan in her biochem- istry class, remembers seeing the family patriarch at various USD sporting events throughout the years, most recently at theWest Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in March 2008, when the Toreros beat Gonzaga to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. “Even when he was pretty elderly, he was still coming to tournaments,” Shaffer recalls of the doctor, who passed away in September 2008. “Although he was a doctor who started out as a sportsman, he remained devoted to USD as well.” Adds Michael Jr., “Of all the things he was — a dad, a husband, an athlete — the main thing was, he was a doctor. That's his legacy.”

success as a professional baseball player, a naval officer and a beloved physician, he set his focus on the towering peaks in the distance, always striving to clear the next summit. It's a legacy he left to his 15 children, six of whom call USD their alma mater. Of those six, four followed in his foot- steps and went on to pursue medicine. The son of Slovak immigrants who came to the United States in 1912, Bajo was born in East Chicago, Indiana in 1919, and graduated with honors from St. Precopius University (now Benedictine University). A lifelong sportsman, Bajo starred in basketball and baseball while at St. Precopius, and was later drafted and signed as a left-handed pitcher by the Chicago White Sox in 1941. Once he decided his true calling was medicine, he attended Loyola Medical School in Chicago, graduating with an M.D. in 1944 at the height of WorldWar II. Bajo became a medical officer for the destroyer USS Dobbins and cared for wounded soldiers in the Pacific theater. Following the war, Bajo was stationed in San Diego and pursued further medical training at Mercy Hospital. While a resident, he took notice of Sarah, who worked as a nurse in the surgical ward. It wasn't long before he asked her to go on a "grunion run," something she thought was just a silly line to get her to go out with him. But soon enough, the two were married. In 1948, the couple relocated to San Ysidro to start a medical practice in that underserved community. This move established Bajo as one of the most beloved physicians in the South Bay, caring for patients on both sides of the border, sometimes accepting payment in the form of chickens or produce. A specialist in obstetrics, he delivered more than 11,000 babies. When infants were aban- doned by their mothers, he was known to call his wife and announce he was bringing home a bundle of joy. (Altogether, the Bajos adopted four of the children he delivered). “At the time they moved to San Ysidro, I don't think there were any other doctors down there,” recalls son Michael Jr. “My dad's home phone was listed in the phone book, and he used to do a lot of house calls, especially at night. Sometimes, he'd take us kids on house calls, and he was always talking about his work. He'd come home from some surgery or a tough delivery and during dinner —we had this huge blackboard behind the kitchen table — he'd draw diagrams up on the blackboard. One thing that I was always really impressed with was his work ethic. l never once heard him complain about work. He just loved what he did. “

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