Winter 04

Alumni News

Correction

Joel Piser, MD ‘81, was listed under the wrong graduating year in the fall issue. The age listed for his son also was in error. We apologize for the errors.

1942
Bernard Davidson, MD, takes to the ski slopes, tends his garden and hikes in his spare time. The ophthalmologist and great-grandfather, who resides in Van Nuys, Calif., has reduced his work week to two days. One of his most vivid memories of medical school is gathering around the radio with his classmates on Dec. 8, 1941, to hear President Franklin Roosevelt ask Congress to declare war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Although he lost vision in his left eye two decades ago, Robert Salb, MD, hasn’t lost his focus on the practice of medicine, though he’s been forced to cut back his weekly hours. The former OB/GYN and surgery physician, who resides in Crossett, Ark., with his wife Mildred, enjoys listening to medical-related audiotapes and fishing.

Travel, golf and computers are among the hobbies of Wallace E, Bash, MD, but the real passion in his life is family, which includes his wife Jean, three children, 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild. He’s been professor of pediatrics at the IUSM Center for Medical Education in Fort Wayne, Ind., and has been named a Sagamore of the Wabash by the Indiana governor’s office.

Ask Victor J. Vollrath, MD, of Indianapolis to name the highlight of his life since medical school and it boils down to one experience: “My wife Isabelle and I are still in love after more than 50 years of marriage. She’s been a personal and professional inspiration to me.” The retired family practice physician relaxes by boating, swimming and golfing, and is active in his church.

1946
Stanton E. Cope, MD, is a retired anesthesiologist and family practitioner, disabled by complications from Guillain-Barré syndrome. He and wife Margaret reside in Clearwater, Fla. He counts Edwin Kime, MD, among his favorite faculty members while attending IUSM.

Short story writing, traveling and hitting the links are some of the pastimes of James W. Weatherholt, MD. He was honored with professor emeritus status at Stanford University School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is a former recipient of that school’s Outstanding Professor Award. Dr. Weatherholt and his wife Bernice reside in Palm Desert, Calif.

Bobby Moss, MD, describes his most recent accomplishment as “still living.” He and his wife Rosella reside in Indianapolis. He says he and his classmates survived the rigors of a fast-track medical education, being the only class to go from the first to last semester without a break. This hunting and gardening aficionado adds that his “efforts at courtship and trying to recuperate from excessive liquid refreshments” was equally rigorous at times.

1947
Robert L. Parr, MD, retired as a pediatrician in 1989, but now volunteers as an epidemiologist for the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, the first physician chosen from Indiana. He has received extensive training from and has consulted for the World Health Organization and Rotary International, serving on polio missions to the Middle East. He has cultivated a black walnut and oak tree plantation in Sheridan, Ind., where he and his wife Gerry live from May to October. They spend the balance of the year in Pensacola, Fla.

Roy Maxson, MD, may have spent most of his career stateside as an anesthesiologist, but he and his wife Becky have a particular fondness for medical outreach programs in distant lands. Dr. Maxson and his wife help support travel grants and forgivable loans from the medical mission support fund of the IU Foundation. This has enabled the Whitestown, Ind., couple to provide students with invaluable experiences in Kenya, Thailand, Tanzania, Honduras, Pakistan and Nepal.

“Active” is an understatement when considering how Dorothy I. Lansing, MD, has spent her last five years. In addition to maintaining her OB/GYN practice, she was asked by the American Philosophical Society to chair the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Celebration for the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. She has worked on tort reform for Pennsylvania physicians, is active in alumni affairs for a medical society at Philadelphia General Hospital, is a passionate student of the history of medicine, and still finds time to write and collect art and antiques at her Paoli, Pa., home.

1957
L. Ray Stewart, MD, is a retired radiologist and resides in Evansville, Ind., with his wife Judy. He was awarded the Gold Medal from the Indiana Radiological Society in 1996 and sums up his best medical school memory in one word: classmates.

Morton Tavel, MD, recently developed a CD/ROM for the teaching of cardiac consultations and keeps active lecturing at the local and national levels about cardiovascular disease. He and his wife Carole reside in Indianapolis, where they enjoy tennis, racquetball, golf and fishing.

Psychiatrist Robert Strange, MD, of Fredericksburg, Va., has returned to his real passion after many years in management duties with the Navy Medical Corps and service to the Commonwealth of Virginia. That passion is working directly with patients, “the reason I became a physician in the first place.” Dr. Strange and his wife Linda spend a great deal of time outdoors, sailing, camping, fishing and canoeing.

1961
Marilyn Wagoner, MD, maintains an active family practice in Kokomo, Ind., along with two other physicians and two physician assistants. She enjoys herb and flower gardening and is unabashedly proud of her two daughters and five grandchildren. She has several memories of medical school, including the plight of fellow students who, on separate occasions, were locked in the skeleton class in the anatomy lab and the now-closed tunnels under the campus. But her best and most lasting memory is of “the boy who sat behind me in most of my lecture classes and ended up asking me out for coffee and then marrying me.” Don Wagoner, MD, practices with his wife and maintains several business interests.

If you go looking for Carl T. Nichols, MD, these days you might want to gaze skyward; you’re likely to find him behind the controls of a prop aircraft or T-34 jet trainer. The retired endocrinologist and his wife Doris call Amarillo, Tex., home. He retains a medical director position with a private firm.

Lloyd Lemke, MD, has maintained a busy schedule since his retirement as an orthopedic surgeon. He is active in a local Civil War Roundtable group, volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and cares for walnut trees he has planted over the last 30 years at his Battle Ground, Ind., home. Dr. Lemke and his wife Dottie report spending a lot of time with their grandchildren. The 42 years since his IUSM graduation have not dimmed his recollections. “I lived with some very good friends in a house that would be condemned by most building codes in this country. Everyone in our class had their ups and downs but we were full of hope, enthusiasm and idealism that pulled us through.”

1962
Warren Bower, MD, Grinnell, Iowa, is past president of the Iowa Academy of Surgery, Throckmorton Surgical Society and was honored by having a surgical addition at a local hospital named in his honor. He and his wife Sue spend much time with their seven grandchildren and working on their property. “One of my highlights is having practiced surgery in a relatively small town where I was needed and where I could make a difference in the quality of medical care in that community,” he says.

Life is good and busy for David Dersch, MD, and his wife Donna in Muncie, Ind., where he has an OB/GYN practice. They travel extensively and are active with their sixteen grandchildren. He serves on the Bob Jones University board of trustees and was responsible for helping develop and design a medical complex.

1966
When the IU basketball team in Bloomington, Ind., suits up for a game, you’ll find Lawrence D. Rink, MD, nearby. The cardiologist is the team physician and also has been physician for U.S. Olympic basketball teams. He’s chief of cardiology at Bloomington Hospital and holds board positions with medical and commerce institutions. Dr. Rink and his wife Ellie have a son.

Here’s a mystery waiting to be solved. Urologist Robert Gray, MD, reports his favorite medical school professor was “old what’s-his-name.” The first person to guess the instructor-in-question’s name will receive a lifetime subscription to IU Medicine magazine – as long as their alumni dues are current. Dr. Gray and his wife Ana live in Simi Valley, Calif., and enjoy traveling and skiing.

1967
According to John Isch, MD, and his wife Mary of Carmel, Ind., there has been no greater satisfaction than watching their three children “develop into mature, responsible and considerate adults, accomplished professionals and supportive spouses.” Dr. Isch is president and CEO of a 37-member group of cardiovascular surgeons in Indiana and was presented with a leadership award from St. Vincent Hospitals and Health Services.

Curtis Liechty, MD, has enjoyed a long and rewarding career in OB/GYN in his hometown of Lansing, Mich. His leisure time is now filled with Michigan State University sports, golf, sailing, classical music, the fine arts and serving as a volunteer on missions to Ecuador and India. He has been married to Mary for 37 years.

1971
Robert Cates, MD, serves as chair of emergency medicine at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va. He enjoys public speaking and has narrated Medical Minute on WTOP radio in the nearby nation’s capital. He also has spoken nationally about customer service and the art of medicine.

1972
The Boy Scout creed of doing good deeds certainly has been applied by Kenneth Boren, MD, in his personal and professional life. The nephrologist, who resides in Mesa, Ariz., with his wife Rebecca, has served as a district commissioner with the Boy Scouts of America and has attended several national Jamborees. If you want to visit with him in the virtual world, check out his family’s Web site at www.boren.org.

1978
Picture this: Valerie Jackson, MD, is the interim chair of IUSM’s Department of Radiology and the John A. Campbell Professor of Radiology. Her duties have included chief of breast imaging at St. Margaret’s Diagnostic Breast Center at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis. She recently served as president of the American College of Radiology. Her primary research interest is mammography and she has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed journal articles or book chapters.

1987
Faculty members can leave lasting impressions on the students they teach. Deborah Fisher Gatzka, MD, cites professor Robert Pascuzzi, MD, ’79, interim chair of the Department of Neurology as her favorite and most influential instructor during her time at IUSM. Today, Dr. Gatzka has her own neurology practice in Aurora, Colo., after years in a large practice group. Beyond medicine, she keeps busy by skiing, biking, cooking and traveling. She and her husband Kerry are the parents of two children.