Dr. Mary Powell Lewis of Newtown Square, a pioneering orthopedic surgeon who inspired other women and doctors, died July 15. She was 98, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

She conducted her orthopedic practice in Bryn Mawr and Abington for decades, and was affiliated with Bryn Mawr, Presbyterian, Abington Memorial, and Haverford Community Hospitals.

 “Her expertise and compassion had a lasting impact on those she treated,” her family said in a tribute.

Dr. Powell was patient, empathetic, and an attentive listener, with a “polite persistence” to overcome obstacles, her family said.

After marrying a fellow doctor, Stuart Lewis, in 1954, they settled in Philadelphia in 1963.

At that time, she became one of the first American women to be board certified in orthopedic surgery. She was later president of the local chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association and the Philadelphia Club of Medical Women.

She was a founding member of the progressive Ruth Jackson Orthopedic Society.

She championed women in the workplace, including women in medicine.

Dr. Powell, who was raised in rural Virginia, cherished nature and animals.

After her retirement in 1987, Dr. Powell ran her family’s tree farm in Spotsylvania County, Va.

Read more about the life of Dr. Mary Powell Lewis in The Philadelphia Inquirer.