Dr. Kenneth A. Krackow
September 6, 1944 – January 9, 2026
Dr. Kenneth A.Krackow, 81, of Buffalo, NY passed away on January 9, 2026.
A Private Service will be held by the family. A Memorial Service will be held at a future time.
Born September 6, 1944, in Baltimore, Md. to Eugene and Audrey Krackow, Ken received his BA in Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 1966 and his MS in Mathematics from Duke University in 1969. He obtained his MD degree from Duke Medical School in 1971. He completed his Internship in General Surgery at Johns Hopkins University in 1972 and graduated from the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency at Johns Hopkins University in 1976. He worked in private practice from 1976-1978 and joined the full-time faculty at Johns Hopkins in 1978, working with his mentor Dr. David Hungerford. Throughout the 1980s he became a pioneer in adult reconstruction surgery and the burgeoning field of hip and knee replacement surgery. He became full Professor in 1990, and remained at Johns Hopkins until 1992 when he moved to Buffalo, NY and joined the full-time faculty in the Department of Orthopaedics at The State University of New York at Buffalo. He remained there until his retirement, and was the Chief of Orthopaedics for Kaleida Health from 1992-2015.
Ken was an incredible and meticulous surgeon known for his attention to detail and precision. He was a devoted teacher and educator; having trained countless medical students, Residents, Fellows and colleagues from around the world, who would flock to watch him perform surgery. He loved to teach!
Ken was an inventor who held many patents. His awards and achievements are far too numerous to list them all. In orthopaedics he invented a locking ligament suture, known as the Krackow stitch, to better repair torn ligaments and tendons, and is recognized world-wide for this innovation. He was instrumental in developing instruments to more accurately prepare the bones for, and insert, artificial hips and knees. He independently conceived and developed a computer-assisted knee replacement system, and in 1998 used it to perform the world’s first published computer-assisted knee replacement in Buffalo, NY. In 2010 he received The Knee Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ken liked to describe himself as a “world-class indoors-man”. He was a talented musician who played clarinet, and he collected watches. He loved to dress to the nines and was a food connoisseur. He enjoyed the Buffalo Philharmonic and the theater. He had an incredible sense of humor, and could always tell a great joke. He was a huge dog lover, and he was a generous philanthropist.
Ken is survived by his wife, Gretchen (Phillips), his daughters Sydney Krackow (Tony Gaetano) and Andrea Krackow (Joe Guzelak), his stepdaughter Kerry (Luke) Milton and stepson Alexander Aylward, and his grandson Gabriel Gaetano and step granddaughter Riley Milton. His siblings include his brother Dr. Joel Krackow (Joanne) and the late Dr. Marcia Krackow.
Ken will be missed by an extended family who affectionately knew him as “Uncle Ken” as well as by countless friends, colleagues, associates and patients who remember him as a kind, talented, dedicated, and generous human being.
Memorials may be made to The Krackow Endowment Fund at the University at Buffalo or Hospice Foundation of WNY. Share condolences at mesnekoff.com