Back to AJ Online Volume 2, Issue 3

In Memoriam

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Robert Melville Andrews ’42 was born on December 14, 1917, in Chungking, China, to missionary parents Dr. John N. Andrews and Dorothy Spicer Andrews. The family lived in Tatsienlu (now Kangding), known as the “gateway to Tibet,” until they were forced to flee to Shanghai during a fierce anti-foreigner uprising in 1926. The family returned to Tatsienlu in 1928. Home-schooled until the age of 12, Dr. Andrews was sent to Shanghai to Far Eastern Academy, which was a mission boarding school. He was rejoined by his family in the early 1930s in time for the Sino-Japanese War. In 1932, the family returned to American and settled in Tennessee. Dr. Andrews attended Southern Junior College, receiving a scholarship, but then the family moved to Takoma Park, Md., and Dr. Andrews finished his pre-medical studies there. He was accepted to Loma Linda University (which at the time was called the College of Medical Evangelists) and graduated in the class of 1942. After an internship at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., he was immediately drafted into Army service as a member of the 3rd Armored Division. His general duties were as a battalion surgeon with an armored field artillery battalion. On field duty he was responsible for treatment of illness and injuries, including battle casualties, the collection and evacuation of the sick and wounded, and tactical and technical control of his assigned medical unit. He remained in the service for 27 months, and was awarded five battle stars and a Bronze Star for service in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe. He was officially discharged in March of 1946 and returned home only to develop a severe depression for which he was hospitalized for some time. He was not able to resume his medical profession for several years but tried several stints of locum-tenems, that is, filling in as needed in Washington, D.C., the Madison Sanitarium in Tennessee, and working in Beriren Springs, Mich., with a former classmate. He eventually moved to Los Angeles where he was able to practice general medicine at the White Memorial Hospital for many years. He retired in 1990 and lived in the Loma Linda area. A very introverted man, his hobbies included classical music, photography, travel, and astronomy. He even built his own telescope. Over the years he took trips to Egypt, Uganda, Iran, India, Australia, and New Zealand. For his final and most memorable trip, he went to China and visited Tatsienlu, following some of the paths he had walked and climbed as a child. He also went to Beijing. Dr. Andrews’ family is looking forward to the time when the call will come to him saying, “Arise, and really see the stars up close.” He is survived by his sisters, Elizabeth Hill and D. Jeanne Andrews-Willumson, a brother, Edward Andrews, and five nephews and three nieces.

Jerrold A. Corbett ’57 passed away on April 17, 2011, in Jackson, Calif. He was 86 years old. Dr. Corbett was born August 20, 1924, to John and Edna Corbett in Minot, N.D,. He graduated from high school in 1942 and joined the Navy, becoming a corpsman and later a pharmacist’s mate. In addition to serving in WWII, he also served in the Korean War, in the Philippines and at Oaknoll Hospital in the Bay Area, working in the blood bank. His medical education started with pre-medical classes at Minot State Teachers College followed by the two-year medical school at the University of North Dakota. He wanted to transfer to the four-year program at Stanford University, but, because Stanford did not have a transfer program, he dropped out of medical school and enrolled in the Oakland Arts and Crafts College. Six months later, he picked up his medical school education again, this time at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. He met Joan Mary Bray on a blind date and the two were married on May 23, 1955, in Grand Fork, N.D. Dr. Corbett graduated at the age of 33 and proceeded to complete two internships, one at the White Memorial Hospital, and one in OB at the Los Angeles County General Hospital. He began family practice in the Glendale, Calif., area for a year and a half before moving to Roseville to begin practice with Dr. Don Edgar in Citrus Heights. Soon he had his own practice in Citrus Heights, in a building which Drs. Trauba and Sullivan had vacated near Slyvan Corners. Those were the days of $3 office calls, $8 hospital visits, $10 house calls and complete OB care for $200. Malpractice insurance was $375 a year. Dr. Corbett practiced 17 years in Roseville before becoming Humboldt State College director of student health, a position he held for 13 years. He then became a cruise ship physician for “World Discover” for nine years. He retired after decades of practicing in the front lines of family medicine. He and Joan traveled to Antarctica 14 times and went to many of the South American countries along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. They visited the South Pacific, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Christmas Island, Spain, England, Scotland, and Wales. They even went on a sailing ship for the “Second Voyage of Columbus.” Dr. Corbett retired at age 73. He and his family had been established in Sutter Creek for 23 years before he passed away. He had been a member of the Roseville Community Hospital staff, chief of staff. His hobbies included remodeling and redecoration and he loved the flare and colors of French Provincial combined to produce palatial splendor. Dr. Corbett had a great sense of humor and loved practical jokes. He is survived by Joan, his wife of 55 years, and their children, Jennifer, Jeff and John.

John Christian Gregorius ’03 passed away on June 19, 2011, at the age of 33, after a ten-month bout with metastatic ocular melanoma. Dr. Gregorius received his baccalaureate degree at the University of Redlands and graduated with a Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, in 1999. While at the University of Redlands, he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and the Omnicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society. During his senior year of medical school he was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in the left eye, which was treated with radiation. Dr. Gregorius was accepted into the radiology program at Loma Linda University under Douglas C. Smith ’66 and completed his residency in 2008. During his chief residency year, Paul Jacobson recommended Dr. Gregorius for the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, and he was inducted into this society as a resident. Because of tDr. Smith’s influence, Dr. Gregorius choose interventional radiology as a career and matched to the UCSF interventional program under Dr. Robert Kerlan. He spent a year with Dr. Kerlan, completing his fellowship in the summer of 2009. Dr. Gregorius was known at UCSF for being the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at night. He then joined the North Radiology Group in San Diego and worked there for a year. He diagnosed himself with metastatic melanoma to the liver while testing a new ultrasound machine on August 5, 2010. He spent the next ten months receiving interventional hepatic artery infusions of chemotherapy every three weeks to combat his metastatic disease. Dr. Gregorius was an expert surfer, skier, and rock climber. He and his brothers, Ted and Stephen, took many trips together to ski and surf around the world. Dr. Gregorius had just returned from a surfing trip to Panama with Ted when he discovered his metastatic disease. Although Dr. Gregorius was gifted with uncommon skills, accomplishments, and awards, he always thought of himself as a common man. This combination of accomplishments and humility, accompanied by a sense of humor, made him appealing to friends, other physicians, and patients. Dr. Gregorius’s final legacy is an uncommon work ethic, uncommon love for people, and, finally, uncommon courage in the face of the medical tragedy that ended his life. This undaunted courage was his final and best testimony. The story of this young man’s courage will be passed down to future generations of his family. He is survived by his father, F. Karl Gregorius ’67, and mother, Tricia; his sister Wendy Gregorius; his brother Theodore K. Gregorius ’00 and his wife, Katie; his sister Stephanie Zivanovic and her husband, Zoran; and his brother Stephen F. Gregorius ’06, and his wife, Melissa. Dr. Gregorius has a Web site associated with the Ocular Melanoma Foundation: www.ocularmelanoma.org/memorial-john-gregorius. Donations can be made on the Web site for research and access to care for those who are faced with this tragic disease.

Arlene Rae Martone-Schlisner ’72 passed away on July 27, 2011, at Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, Georgia, at the age of 64. She was born on June 7, 1947, in Hendersonville, N.C., the daughter of Albert and Lucia Martone. Dr. Martone-Schlisner was a member of the Collegedale Community Seventh-day Adventist church. She is survived by her husband, Everett Schlisner; her sons and daughters-in-law James and Amy Hermann; Greg Hermann; Grand and Laurie Schlisner; Brett and Amy Schlisner; her daughters and sons-in-law Tammy and Andy Graham; Suzanne and Frank Dye; sisters and brothers-in-law Linda and Jay Gallimore; Brenda and Nelson Thoresen; and 12 grandchildren.

Calvin Arthur Olson ’51 passed away on August 3, 2011, in Sonora, Calif., at the age of 85. He was born in India to missionary parents. Dr. Olson did a residency in general and thoracic surgery at White Memorial Hospital, then spent two years in the Army serving in the Korean War. He and his family moved to Tokyo, Japan, from 1962 to 1966 so that Dr. Olson could be chief surgeon in the missionary hospital. They next spent three months at the mission hospital in Saigon during the Vietnam War, then went to Singapore where Dr. Olson spent five years as chief surgeon at Youngberg Memorial Hospital. He began working at the Sonora Medical Group in 1971 and retired in 1998. His hobbies included gardening and Bible study. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Alyse Olson; his children Eric and wife Marti Olson, Karen Johnson, Robert and wife Michelle Olson, Bill Olson and partner Ray Toney, and Donna Olson; and numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Helen L. Popoway-Holiak ’47 passed away on June 6, 2011. She was born on October 16, 1922, in Harbin, China. Her father was a Seventh-day Adventist missionary from the Ukraine. Her mother was from Russia, near the Black Sea. Dr. Popoway-Holiak’s parents met and married in China. They continued mission work for 19 years among the Russian people who emigrated to Manchuria to escape Communism in Russia. Dr. Popoway-Holiak’s primary education was at the Seventh-day Adventist mission school in Harbin. For high school she attended a YMCA coeducational school that was taught in Russian. She graduated cum laude at the age of 16 then went on to Pacific Union College for her pre-medical studies. She interned at St. Joseph’s Hospital in San Francisco and did her residency in anesthesiology at the White Memorial Hospital with Forrest Leffingwell ’33. In 1951 Dr. Popoway-Holiak began her practice of anesthesiology at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco and continued there until 1958. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she practiced anesthesiology for seven more years.  Dr. Popoway-Holiak decided to change her field of practice in 1968. She was trained by the California State Department of Social Services as a Medi-Cal consultant, and she worked reviewing requests for prior authorizations until her retirement from medical practice in 1979. She was very generous in support of her alma mater and of other projects, such as the Popoway Fund at Kettering Medical Center in honor of her classmate Elvin C. Hedrick ’47. Dr. Popoway-Holiak married Joseph Holiak and they thoroughly enjoyed living the country lifestyle in Orangevale near Folsom, Calif. Her church activities included teaching Sabbath School classes and being church pianist and choir director in both the Russian and American Seventh-day Adventist churches. She also served as church librarian in Orangevale. She and Joseph traveled extensively, to Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Japan, the Caribbean, and countries in the South Pacific and their surrounding islands.

Findlay Ewing Russell ’51, known for his research in toxicology and toxinology, passed away on August 21, 2011 in Phoenix. He was 91. Dr. Russell was born in San Francisco in 1919 to William and Mary Jane Russell. He served in World War II as a medic, receiving a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars. In addition to Loma Linda University, Dr. Russell worked and studied at Caltech and USC and directed the Los Angeles Laboratory of Neurological Research. He was the founder and first president of the International Society of Toxinology, and was one of the first to use polyvalent crotalid antivenom for snakebite envenomation. He worked at USC for more than 30 years as a professor of neurology, physiology and biology. He authored several scientific articles and books and holds several patents. He also worked with NASA, receiving the Skylab Achievement award. He had a PhD in English in addition to his medical doctor degree and had an honorary degree from the University of Santa Barbara in law. He was a Fulbright scholar and guest professor at universities worldwide, also serving as a consultant for the World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders and the National Science Foundation. In 2011 he was named Alumnus of the Year by Loma Linda University. He had been working in the College of Pharmacology at the University of Arizona and received the Findlay E. Russell Distinguished Citizen award from that institution. His hobbies included fishing, camping, steam engines, vintage cars, and pranks. He was witty and welcomed a good debate with peers. He also loved to spend time outside collecting tarantulas, scorpions, spiders and rattlesnakes at his home in Portal, Arizona. His survivors include his children Christa Russell Cessaro and her husband Robert, Sharon Russell Boyle and her husband Chuck, Robin Rusell and her husband Paul Home, Connie Lane and her husband Larry and Mark Russell and his wife Dana. Dr. Russell also leaves ten grandchildren, one great-grandchild and his sister, Patricia.

Bernd Walter Scheithauer ’73-A, passed away on September 19, 2011 in Rochester, Minn., at the age of 65. He was born on August 30, 1946, in Glenau, Germany, to Walter and Renate (Scholz) Schiethauer. He grew up in Eureka, Calif., graduating from Humboldt State College in Arcata, Calif. He completed his residency and fellowship in surgical pathology and neuropathology at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif. In 1979 he started work for the Mayo Clinic in the anatomic pathology, laboratory medicine and pathology departments. He married Charlotte Fisher on December 17, 1967, in Eureka, but they later divorced. Dr. Scheithauer enjoyed traveling, coin collecting, photography, collecting medical books and weight lifting. He is survived by his son, Hans, his daughter, Monika, and her husband, Joe Maxey, his grandson, Aiden, and his mother.