The National Wrestling Hall of Fame was saddened to learn that Dr. Bernard Feldman, who received the Order of Merit award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010, has passed away. 

Memorial visitation will be held Thursday, August 5 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Kerry Funeral Home & Cremation Care Center, 7020 West 127th Street, Palos Heights, Illinois. Internment at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery will be private. 

“On behalf of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Board of Governors and staff, I want to express our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Dr. Bernard Feldman,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “In addition to being a great doctor for countless athletes and coaches, Bernie also contributed significantly to the sports medicine field. He will be deeply missed and never forgotten.” 

Dr. Feldman was the first physician to be inducted into the Hall of Fame based upon his medical work. His interest and expertise in orthopaedics and sports medicine is a direct result of his extensive involvement in the care of all levels of athletes. 

In 1983, Dr. Feldman volunteered his skills to serve as Medical Director of the World Junior Wrestling Championships held in his home state of Illinois. That choice to donate his time fueled a relationship that lasted more than 30 years and took him to wrestling events all over the world. 

Dr. Feldman earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and attended the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine. After graduation, he completed his internship at Passavant Memorial Hospital (Northwestern University Medical Center) in Chicago. 

After a stint in the U.S. Air Force as a flight surgeon, he continued at Passavant, serving a residency in general surgery, before moving on to additional residency training in orthopedic surgery at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. 

He served as a team physician for the Chicago White Sox and for the varsity football team at H.L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois, but it is in the sport of wrestling where he had his greatest impact. 

Since that first volunteer experience in 1983, he worked at over 120 international wrestling events, including five Olympic Games: Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000 and Beijing in 2008. In addition, he was selected as an official wrestling physician for 14 Senior World Championships, two Junior World Championships, two Cadet World Championships, five World Cups, two Pan American Games, nine Pan American Championships and two Junior Pan American Championships. 

Most recently, Dr. Feldman served on USA Wrestling’s COVID-19 Advisory Committee, a group of medical, scientific, government and public health experts who advised the organization on a variety of important issues that has helped the organization navigate the challenges caused by the pandemic. 

Dr. Feldman served as a member of the FILA Medical Prevention and Anti-Doping Department. In 2008, he was awarded FILA’s Silver Star, one of the most prestigious awards given by the international wrestling association for his commitment to the sport. 

In 2018 he became the second individual to receive the Order of Merit award from the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame and the first to be added to the UWW Hall of Fame based upon his career providing medical services to international athletes.