Giants out of the discard pile

Dennis E. Park

In 1967 the Alumni Association office was preparing for its move to Loma Linda, following the move of the School of Medicine to Loma Linda in 1961. After an office was established in Loma Linda, volunteers and Association staff in Los Angeles began the arduous task of sorting through Association records in the Osler house, the Los Angeles home of the Alumni Association. Files were being sorted and prepared for shipment or storage. Discarded papers and records were piled on the garage floor. In one of the trash piles, Raymond Herber '57 discovered some scraps of paper of pen and pencil sketches—caricatures of School of Medicine administrators and teachers, the doodlings of Wesley Kime ’53-A.

Recognizing the potential value of the sketches as a bit of CME history, Dr. Herber recovered them from the trash. As he pondered his find, he thought “These sketches are classics and need to be preserved.” He reasoned that the sketches—duplicated—could be bound into books to be used as thank-you gifts to alumni who are sentimental about their roots and who have supported their alma mater financially or given of their time in teaching. He realized that the caricatures would preserve a bit of the School’s history—shared memories of many of the alumni: the good times they had in medical school and dedication of the faculty. “Unfortunately, most of us had to be in practice a few years before we fully appreciated the education we received,” he said.

As with many good ideas, the project was delayed, but the idea was never out of mind. In 1985 Dr. Herber wrote the foreword of the book and began to work on the chapters as time would allow. He began organizing his material and collecting other sketches.  As the project progressed, Dr. Herber discovered that all of the sketches were of administrators and teachers from the ’40s and ’50s—the end of an era just before the College of Medical Evangelists (CME) became LLUSM.

As the outline of the book was defined, the decision was made to let the caricatures speak for themselves. Contributors were selected to write the vignettes about the teachers at CME, these Giants who had the dedication and vision to inspire students to excellence in their pursuit to make man whole.

In 1994 the book Giants of CME was published by Herber and Gery P. Friesen Productions, a volume depicting beloved administrators and teachers in caricature form, with vignettes of each GIANT provided by selected alumni. The flyleaf has this inscription: “Gratefully dedicated to the administrators and teachers at CME, both full-time and voluntary, who gave the most valuable gifts—themselves. Also to a new and valued group whose vision of future needs has inspired them to give, and who will continue to give, endowments to keep Loma Linda University School of Medicine strong and vibrant for a second century” (page 10).

Raymond Herber, editor of GIANTS, has an eye for the unusual, a heart for underfunded projects, and a gift to remember places, names and faces. He  was born in Shattuck, Oklahoma, in 1932, raised in a SDA home and educated in SDA schools. He received his college degree from Union College, Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1953. Upon graduating from Union College he began his medical education at CME, graduating in 1957. He took his internal medicine residency at the White Memorial Hospital and at the Los Angeles County General Hospital. He has been a faculty member at LLUSM since 1962 and has served the department of medicine as chief of the division of gastroenterology, liver, and nutrition. Currently he is also chief financial officer of the department of medicine.

Dr. Herber has received many honors over the years. One of his biggest joys is to contribute to the projects of his choosing, especially underfunded projects. Herber declares, “It is an honor to give, especially to those projects and/or organizations that have the same goals and objectives that are important to me.” His philosophy of philanthropy is simple: “Give as much as you can as often as you can. Consistent giving is the key to effective philanthropy. If you are shouldered by debt, it is impossible to be an effective donor because you are unable to donate all you want to.”

Herber believes that there are many ways to support organizations. “One can give of one’s time, love, energy, and money. Important as cash donations are, deferred giving through trusts, wills, and insurance plans are equally effective. The most important thing is to have a plan of giving, by whatever means, and to be consistent in that plan.”

“One organization that deserves our support,” Ray Herber says “is the School of Medicine Alumni Association. It has an important role in promoting camaraderie and postgraduate education, stimulating support for our alma mater, and promoting foreign mission projects. The goals and objectives of the Association are the same as mine. I identify with them and support them.”

—Alumni JOURNAL, March-April, 1995