Dr. Cyrus W. Loo was a Renaissance man, a doctor who integrated Eastern with Western medicine, who was athletic, played and wrote music and was a certified handwriting analyst, said friends and family.

“;He was unusual—a real thinking-outside-the-box kind of guy,”; said his daughter, Dr. Chalsa Loo.

The 91-year-old Honolulu dermatologist, noted for practicing holistic medicine and an advanced form of acupuncture, died Jan. 27. Private military and Masonic services were held Friday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

“;He dedicated his life to healing and eliminating physical pain and was gifted in music, entertaining many with the piano and accordion,”; said a short eulogy. “;He always thought outside the box and was ever impatient with the world that did not always see things his way. He loved pingpong and live Maine lobsters, bitter melon and pigs feet and opihi.”;

When a friend told Loo he planned to undergo acupuncture to relieve pain in his ankle, Loo said, “;I can't think of anything more foolish to do,”; recalled Chalsa Loo. “;How can a bunch of needles help you?”;

That changed when Loo and his wife, Amy, took one of the first friendship trips to China when it opened to visitors in 1972. He decided to check out acupuncture, registered for a course and offered himself as a guinea pig, his daughter said.

He became avid about acupuncture, she said, remembering a family outing to Hanauma Bay for a picnic. He put all the acupuncture points on his legs in color with a felt pen, and “;instead of swimming with the kids, he was studying every point he put on his legs,”; Chalsa Loo said.

Loo was born in Honolulu. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati Medical School and did postgraduate work at the University of Virginia and Duke University. He was affiliated with the University of Hawaii School of Nursing.

He was a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, serving in the Korean War, and received military honors.

After adding acupuncture to his dermatology practice, he published articles and gave invited lectures on the technique locally and at international conferences.

He was recognized for discovering an acupuncture point (called the Loo Point) near the ankle that he said was successful 95 percent of the time regardless of the type of disease or injury.

He treated many athletes and celebrities, from former professional quarterback Jim McMahon to heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke, friends said.

Loo was the pianist for the Waikiki Rotary Club and until his death was the organist for Masonic Lodges of Waikiki and les Progres de Oceanic. He also played the accordion at community events.

He won awards for his music and received the 1964 International Graphoanalysis Society Award as the nation's most outstanding handwriting analyst.

“;He was magnificent, a piano, organ and accordion player, a jokester and a brilliant, brilliant person,”; said Kunani Nihipali, of Pupukea.

Nihipali and his wife, Ipo, were Loo's patients for about 10 years. Ipo, an award-winning Hawaiian artist, said Loo gave her relief from Parkinson's disease, Sjogren's syndrome (drying of eyes and mouth), fibromyalgia and other physical challenges.

“;A lot of doctors were blown away at the result he was giving me with Parkinson's,”; she said. “;It was all on the right side, and he prevented the tremors from traveling to the left side. This was the miracle he gifted me with.”;

Kulani said he created a Web site for Loo to inform others about his Acu-Electro-Therapy, using a mild electrical stimulation to treat many diseases.

He said Loo treated him for numbness in his hands, and he learned how to help his wife watching Loo work. “;He was just a genius.”;

Dr. Francis Pien, Loo's primary doctor and family friend for about 25 years, said he was one of few physicians doing acupuncture, and he would send him patients.

“;He was very talented in many ways. He was an outstanding musician, very good with the accordion, very social. Not too many Chinese like to sing and play instruments. He was kind of an exception.”;

He also was “;an excellent tennis player,”; Pien said, adding that he stopped playing with him after five years. “;He always would win.”;

Besides wife Amy and daughter Chalsa, Loo's survivors include sister Beatrice Lau of Hilo, son Dennis, daughter Patricia, three grandsons and one great-granddaughter.