Thomas J. Schaefer, a general surgeon whose skill and bedside manner earned the respect of patients and colleagues over a long career, died Sunday in hospice at the former Mercy Hospital of Johnstown, where he was once president of the medical staff.

The cause of death was a stroke, said his son, John, of the South Side Slopes.

Dr. Schaefer, 81, had been diagnosed two years ago with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, but seemed to have fought off the disease.

"We thought he was in the clear," said his son. "Then this happened."

He described his father as "a Brooklyn guy who wound up in Johnstown," as well as a good Catholic and former athlete who held the New York City five-county high jump record for a year while attending Fordham Preparatory School.

Dr. Schaefer was a corpsman in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1947. After earning undergraduate and medical degrees at Georgetown University, where he also played baseball and basketball, he did an internship in Newark, N.J., and trained as a surgeon in Washington, D.C., and Columbia, S.C.

He married the former Genevieve Kelly in 1956. Two years later they moved to Johnstown where he practiced surgery for 35 years.

"He had a straightforward, caring manner," said his son . "People loved him for that."

The couple raised six children, including Michael, of Johnstown, who has Down syndrome. They were active in the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens, and Dr. Schaefer served on the board of Cambria Residential Services.

Dr. Schaefer attended daily Mass at Our Mother of Sorrows Church in Johnstown. He was an accomplished bridge player, and he and his wife of 52 years played duplicate bridge two weeks before his death. One of the few things he never conquered was golf, said his son, although he kept trying.

In addition to his wife and sons, Dr. Schaefer is survived by four other children, Thomas, of Peters, Matthew, of the South Side, William, of Squirrel Hill, and Margaret Katter, of Ridgewood, N.J.; and four siblings.

Following the funeral yesterday, he was interred at Grandview Cemetery in Johnstown.