Homer Stryker and his Revolutionary Bed

Homer Stryker exemplifies the great American story—an inventor whose invention leads him to success in the business world. Born near Fulton in Wakeshma Township in 1894, Stryker graduated from Western State Normal School in 1916 and became a teacher in the Upper Peninsula. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I. In 1921, he enrolled in the University of Michigan Medical School.

Stryker developed his first successful invention, the Stryker Turning Frame during his residency in Ann Arbor in 1935. This device made it easier to turn patients over from their back to their stomach when they were unable to do so by themselves. Word of the new product spread quickly in both medical journals and popular magazines, including LIFE. Dr. Stryker continued to tinker while he was completing his residency and made improvements on a number of medical devices then in use. He also invented his second product: a rubber heel for walking casts.

During the 1950's, after a series of successful bouts and expanding his products, Dr. Stryker began to work on another hospital bed, one that would do even more than the turning frame. It took several years of trial-and-error experimentation, but by the mid-1950s, he had solved the problems. The resulting product, the Circ-O-Lectric bed, was Dr. Stryker’s final invention. It was extremely successful. It allowed patients or medical personnel to change the patient’s position with little effort. It proved enormously popular among patients confined to bed for extended periods. Over the years, the company continued to grow and expand. In 1964, it changed its name to the Stryker Corporation.

As the company thrived, other products were introduced. Increasingly, the company relied on its own research and development staff for the new products. Dr. Stryker began reducing his involvement after 1964 and retired formally in 1969. In May 1980, Dr. Stryker died at the age of 85. He left behind a heritage of invention that has contributed greatly to the prosperity of Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan. In the life of Homer Stryker, history and science come together.

To read more about the life of Homer Stryker and his inventions, visit:

https://kalamazoomuseum.org/images/museon/2002-Fall-MuseON.pdf