Alumni

Joseph M. Abell Jr., M.D. (Residency 1962), died October 17, 2011. He was 79. He received an M.D. from the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, then completed residencies in surgery and orthopedic surgery at the U-M. He then moved to Austin, Texas, and founded Austin Orthopaedic Clinic, where he practiced until 2007. Abell was an active member of the staffs of Brackenridge, Seton and St. David’s hospitals in Austin.

Charles “Jerry” Barone (M.D. 1944), of Grand Ledge, Michigan, died August 23, 2011. He was 91. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War. A general surgeon and on-call ER physician, he had offices in Detroit and Birmingham, and served on the staffs of several southeast Michigan hospitals. From 1986 until retiring in 1998, he was a utilization review physician at South Macomb Hospital in Warren, Michigan.

James Grost (M.D. 1952), 84, died December 18, 2011. He served with the U.S. Army Medical Corps and practiced family medicine in central Michigan for more than 40 years, including service as a board member and chief of staff at Clinton Memorial Hospital. He then served for four years as medical director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and in 1996 retired to the Traverse City area.

Severo K. Guerrero Jr. (M.D. 1957), 87, of Mesa, Arizona, died December 20, 2011. From 1945-48, he served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army. During his 40-year career in family medicine, Guerrero was a clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a faculty member at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. After retiring, he volunteered at a VA Clinic in Mesa.

Joseph G. Jender (M.D. 1955, Residency 1960), 81, died December 5, 2011. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1955-64. Jender was a pediatrician in the Plymouth-Canton area of southeast Michigan from 1964-98, and was on staff at U-M and St. Joseph Mercy hospitals. Memorial contributions may be made to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, 1000 Oakbrook Dr., Ste. 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Arthur C. Kittleson (M.D. 1954, Residency 1958), 86, died August 19, 2011. A U.S. Army veteran, he completed an M.D. and radiology residency at the U-M, then served on the faculty for nine years. He next joined the staff of the Alexian Brothers Hospital in San Jose, California, and became head of its Department of Radiology, retiring in 1985. In 1997, he and his wife established the Arthur C. and Lois Dittmar Kittleson Student Aid Fund in the Medical School, and in 2005 he and classmates established the Class of 1954 Scholarship. Contributions to either fund may be sent to Medical Development, 1000 Oakbrook Dr., Ste. 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Irving Levitt (M.D. 1943, Residency 1948), 91, of Atlanta, Georgia, died September 2, 2011. After serving as a physician and officer in the U.S. Army during World War II, Levitt practiced pediatrics in Detroit. In 1971, he left medicine and was an art dealer in New York for five years. He then returned to Detroit and resumed practicing pediatrics until retiring in 1985.

Fray F. Marshall, M.D. (Residency 1972), died December 2, 2011, at age 67. He received his M.D. from the University of Virginia, then completed a general surgery residency at the U-M before going to Massachusetts General for a urology residency. In 1975, he moved to Baltimore and practiced at Johns Hopkins before relocating to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time of his death, he was professor and chair of urology at Emory.

William J. Mills Jr., M.D. (Residency 1954), 93, died December 4, 2011. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, earned his M.D. at Stanford Medical School, then came to the U-M for a residency in orthopedics. He then moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve. An expert on hypothermia, frostbite and immersion injury, he was a consultant for NASA, and developed a high-altitude laboratory on Mt. McKinley. He also served as an adjunct professor and a team physician at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and as a clinical professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Sherroll Aubrey Neill, M.D. (Residency 1964), 77, died November 22, 2011. He received his M.D. from the University of Texas, completed a residency in general surgery at the U-M, and began a practice in Texas in 1964. From 1966-67, he was a surgeon with the U.S. Navy in Vietnam, then resumed his practice in Tyler, Texas, continuing for 40 years. At the time of his death, he was the medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Mother Frances Hospital.

Joseph Henry Smith (M.D. 1969) died September 30, 2011. He was 82 and resided in San Diego, California. Smith generously supported student scholarships in the U-M Medical School.

George Suzuki (M.D. 1953, Residency 1955) died August 10, 2011, at age 83. After completing his M.D. and internship at the U-M, he spent two years in Hiroshima, Japan, with the Radiation Effects Research Foundation. He then went to California for residency training before returning to his native Hawaii to begin an internal medicine practice associated with Kuakini Medical Center. Suzuki retired in 2008. He generously supported scholarships in the U-M Medical School.

William Yaroch (M.D. 1954, Residency 1959), 84, died November 28, 2011. He entered the U.S. Army, then completed his M.D. at the U-M and interned at Grace Hospital before returning to the U-M for a psychiatry residency. His career included private practice and roles with U-M Psychiatric Emergency Services and several government and community agencies. He supported the Dean’s Annual Scholarship Fund in the U-M Medical School.

Faculty

Donita B. Sullivan, M.D. (Fellowship 1959), died December 19, 2011, at age 80. She received her M.D. from Saint Louis University, and completed a pediatrics residency at Detroit Children’s Hospital. She then completed a fellowship at the U-M and became a clinical instructor. One of the first pediatric rheumatologists in the U.S., Sullivan remained at the U-M throughout her career, serving in a variety of roles including chief of the Section of Pediatric Rheumatology. She was named professor emerita in 1996, and in 2009 the Donita B. Sullivan, M.D., Research Professorship in Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases was established in her honor. Contributions may be sent to 1000 Oakbrook Dr., Ste. 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Friends

Seth Bonder, Ph.D., of Long Boat Key, Florida, and Ann Arbor, died October 29, 2011, at age 79. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, he completed a bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from the Ohio State University. He served on the U-M engineering faculty from 1965-72, then founded Vector Research Inc. (VRI), which he served as CEO for 32 years. From 1995-2004, he served as adjunct professor at the U-M. In 2001, VRI was acquired by another institution and Bonder served on its board. In 2002, he established the Seth Bonder Endowed Fund for Cancer Research at the U-M. Contributions may be sent to 1000 Oakbrook Dr., Ste. 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Marvin Danto, an engineer, furniture retailer, real estate developer, community leader and philanthropist from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, died on January 24, 2012. He was 95. In 2006, Danto and his wife, Betty, established the Marvin and Betty Danto Research Professorship in Connective Tissue Research at the U-M. They also generously supported the construction of the U-M Cardiovascular Center, and its auditorium was named in their honor. Betty Danto died in 2009. Danto’s family recalls his philosophy: “The giver is the greatest receiver.” Contributions may be sent to the Marvin and Betty Danto Education Fund, 1000 Oakbrook Dr., Ste. 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

D. Dan Kahn, 89, a Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, businessman and philanthropist, died January 3, 2012. In 2004, Kahn made a gift to the U-M Cardiovascular Center (CVC) in memory of his wife, Betty, who died in June of that year. The D. Dan and Betty Kahn Patient and Family Reception Area in the CVC was subsequently named in their honor. In 2009, the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation established the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Cardiovascular Medical Engineering Research Fund in the CVC. In recognition, the auditorium at the U-M’s A. Alfred Taubman Biomedical Science Research Building was named in honor of the Kahns. Kahn also commissioned the bronze sculpture that resides in the CVC courtyard. In addition to the U-M, he generously contributed to Israel’s Technion University and several Jewish community organizations. At his funeral, the rabbi proclaimed, “He was a titan of philanthropy, and we are all beneficiaries of his incredible acts of generosity.”

Robert D. Mardigian, 59, of Boyne City, Michigan, and Boca Raton, Florida, died January 12, 2012. As a trustee of the foundation named for his late parents, Mardigian generously supported the Edward and Helen Mardigian Foundation Research Fund at the U-M, as well as scholarship and professorship funds in the school. He formerly served as president of the Mardigian Development Corporation. —MF