Alumni

Ray C. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D. (Residency 1947), of Sun City, Arizona, died May 20, 2008, at age 90. In 1947, Anderson, an Army captain, helped organize the genetics program that became part of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. From 1951 until retiring in 1980, he was a member of the pediatrics faculty at the University of Minnesota. There, Anderson became associated with the Lillehei-Varco surgical team, now viewed as the founder of open-heart surgery.

 

John Howard Bell, M.D. (Residencies 1982 and 1984), an avid cyclist, died in a biking accident on May 26, 2007. He was 58. Bell practiced cardiothoracic surgery in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he resided with his wife, Michelle, and their two children.

 

John W. Berghuis (M.D. 1951, Residency 1956), 86, died on May 23, 2008. During his career, he practiced in the towns of Holland, Zeeland and Adrian, Michigan. In his free time, Berghuis enjoyed fishing, gardening, U-M football and spending time with his family.

 

Seymour Gordon (M.D. 1954), 78, died on July 29, 2007. He performed the first cardiac catheterization to take place at Detroit’s William Beaumont Hospital, where he served, along with his professional partner of 50 years, Gerald C. Timmis, M.D., as co-chief of cardiology. A believer in giving back, Gordon was active with the United Way and the American Heart Association.

 

Hal B. Jennings (M.D. 1941, Residency 1947) died on February 12, 2008, at age 92. After serving overseas in World War II, he trained in plastic surgery, repairing many cleft lips and palates during the course of his career with the U.S. Army. Jennings served as surgeon general of the Army in Vietnam from 1969-73, then became CEO of the American Urological Association in Baltimore, Maryland. He retired in 1975.

 

Chester D. Johnson, M.D. (Residency 1947), of Sun City West, Arizona, died on May 8, 2008. He was 91. As a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Johnson served on a hospital ship in the Pacific during the Bikini Atoll Atomic Tests of World War II. He practiced ophthalmology in Moline, Illinois, for 30 years, and enjoyed sports and computers.

 

David M. Katchka (M.D. 1939) died on February 17, 2008, at age 92. He was a founding partner of Katchka, Friedman, Crider Medical Corp (now Anesthesiology Consultants of Toledo) which provided anesthesia services to Toledo Hospital. Katchka was a founder of the Toledo Society of Anesthesiologists and the World Congress of Anesthesiologists in Copenhagen. After retiring in 1985, he maintained a presence at Toledo Hospital, and enjoyed golf, the stock market and traveling with his wife, Elsie.

 

Paul E. Larkey (M.D. 1961) died May 10, 2008, after a long illness. He was 75. During medical school, Larkey was active with Phi Chi fraternity and the Galens Medical Society, and graduated with classmate and brother-in-law Richard Dorr (M.D. 1961, Residencies 1965 and 1968). He practiced as a family physician for 46 years in the Lansing, Michigan, area, serving for a time as chief of staff at St. Lawrence Hospital.

Marion G. McCall Jr. (M.D. 1959) died September 16, 2006, at age 76. He was a prominent ophthalmologist in Detroit for more than 40 years.

 

James A. McLean (M.D. 1946, Residency 1955), 86, died on December 5, 2007, at a hospital in Pinehurst, North Carolina. McLean attended the U-M Medical School, then went on to Baylor University in Texas for his residency training. After service as a captain in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he returned to the U-M and joined the faculty, where he trained and specialized in allergy, eventually becoming a full professor. In 1986, McLean retired after 30 years of service.

 

Rolf G. Sommerhaug, M.D. (Residency 1971), died on May 2, 2008. He was 69. Born and raised in Norway, Sommerhaug developed a passion for slalom skiing as a young boy and carried it with him throughout his life. He moved to Seattle, Washington, with his parents at 19, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, and took up sailing while attending the University of Wisconsin Medical School. Sommerhaug served with the Air Force Reserve from 1964-71, then moved to California’s Bay Area with his wife, Gunvor. In 1974, he helped establish the cardiovascular program at Mt. Diablo Hospital in Concord, California, now part of John Muir Health.

 

Ethon L. Stone (M.D. 1939), 92, died on May 27, 2008. From 1941-46, he served as a physician in the European Theater during World War II. From 1947 until his retirement in 1998, Stone practiced pediatrics in Jackson, Michigan. He maintained professional ties with the U-M throughout his career, and was a faithful U-M sports fan and an avid sailor.

 

William F. Sutter (M.D. 1954) died May 22, 2008, at age 80 after battling cancer. He served in the U.S. Army as a captain at Brook Army Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he trained in otolaryngology. After completing his service, Sutter returned to Michigan and practiced family medicine for 43 years. From 1983 until 2008, he served as medical director of Oakview Medical Care Facility in Ludington, Michigan.

 

Leland Swenson (M.D. 1940) died on January 17, 2008. He was 93. Swenson served in the U.S. Army in World War II. He practiced orthopaedic surgery at Hackley Hospital in Muskegon, Michigan, from 1949 until retiring in 1978.

 

Faculty

David Kurnit, M.D., Ph.D., former professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and of human genetics, died January 30, 2008, at the age of 60. After completing his M.D. and Ph.D. at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Kurnit became an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, then professor at the U-M where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator from 1986-96. Throughout an accomplished career, Kurnit always devoted himself to the academic achievement of the students and researchers who worked in his lab.

 

Friends

Samuel P. Frankel, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, one of America’s visionary developers, died April 7, 2008, at the age of 94. Frankel helped develop the discount-store concept in the 1960s and built the first Kmart store, in addition to several major retail malls and other building projects in southeast Michigan. Frankel was a philanthropist whose support of the U-M and Detroit’s cultural institutions leaves a lasting impact on the region. Frankel, wife Jean, and other family members have generously supported cardiovascular health at the U-M, as well as business, social work and Judaic studies.

 

John A. Klein, of Easton, Connecticut, president and CEO of People’s United Bank and its holding company, People’s United Financial Inc., died on January 25, 2008, at the age of 58. Klein and his wife, Carla, established the John A. and Carla S. Klein Family Research Professorship in Thoracic Surgery following his treatment at the U-M, to support a faculty member whose research focuses on diseases of the esophagus. The family asks that memorial gifts be made to the professorship at the U-M Department of Surgery, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr., 2110 Taubman Center, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-5346.

Mary Upjohn Meader of Kalamazoo, Michigan, died on March 16, 2008, at age 91. Born Rachel Mary Upjohn, Meader was one of 11 grandchildren of W.E. Upjohn (M.D. 1875), founder with his brothers of the Upjohn pharmaceutical company. With her first husband, neurosurgeon and military pilot Richard Light, Meader pioneered aerial photography in the 1930s over parts of Africa and South America which had not yet been photographed from above, including Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, and the Pyramids of Egypt. With her second husband, Edwin Meader, she became a major philanthropist, supporting education and community charities. The Meaders’ generosity benefited the Kellogg Eye Center, the Depression Center, Kelsey Archeological Museum, the arts and education, among other areas at the U-M. Edwin Meader died in 2007.

 

Helen Elizabeth Vida, of Bradbury, California, died February 7, 2008. She was 93. Vida taught for more than 20 years in the English department of California’s El Monte High School until her retirement. Preceded in death by her husband, a 1939 graduate of the medical school, Vida — along with daughter Judith E. Vida-Spence — established the Alexander S. Vida, M.D., Memorial Scholarship in 1983 to honor his life and assist with the education of future physicians. The family welcomes memorial gifts to the Vida Scholarship Fund, which may be sent to the Office of Medical Development and Alumni Relations, 301 E. Liberty St., Suite 400, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104.