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The Alumni Association, School of Medicine of Loma Linda University is a nonprofit organization composed of both alumni and affiliate members, organized to support the School, to promote excellence in world-wide health care, and to serve its members.

They Walked These Halls

alumni who have impacted academia, medicine, and the social order

by Henry K. Yeo '68 (from the Alumni Journal)

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2000, pages 21-23.

Click thumbnails to enlarge photos and read bios.

Leonard Lee Bailey '69, born: 1942, Takoma Park, Maryland. 10-26-84 made medical history as the day that "Baby Fae," a newborn dying from hypoplastic left heart syndrome, received a xenographic heart transplant. There was no available homographic organ, and, bolstered by his previous extensive research in xenographic transplants, Dr. Bailey performed the surgery. "Baby Fae's" 21 days, much longer than the documented infant homographic transplantations of that time, opened up wide spread interest in xenotransplantations and immunology. Dr. Bailey maintains a daunting schedule in his practice, ongoing research activities, and teaching at Loma Linda University. He frequently lectures at major medical convocations in the U.S. and around the world. George Henry Rue '24, born: 1899, Oakland, California, died: 1993, Norland, Washington. Establishing the Adventist medical work in Korea in 1929, Dr. Rue served there until 1967 (minus the WWII years). Besides founding clinics and hospitals, he and his wife also organized orphanages and facilitated adoptions of their charges during the devastating period of the Korean Conflict. He was personal physician to the American consulate staff and the president of Korea. His tireless dedication earned him numerous awards ranging from receiving the key to the city of Seoul to the Korean Medal of Honor. It was said that everyone in Korea from the street sweepers to President Seung Man Rhee knew him and held him in the highest regard. Leo Paul Krall '43, born: 1914, New York City, New York. After two years as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy and completing his internal medicine residency, Dr. Krall had academic appointments at his alma mater and the Los Angeles County General Hospital. In the early 1950s, he was recruited by Elliot P. Joslin, MD, to join his staff as one of the original eight founders of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. In time, the Center evolved into the preeminent diabetes treatment and research facility in this country and abroad. Former long-time director of Joslin's educational division, Dr. Krall is chair of the annual Harvard-Joslin course for physicians. As past president of the International Diabetes Federation, he has traveled an estimated two million miles around the globe and back. His innumerable awards include many from Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Melvin Paul Judkins '47, born: 1922, Los Angeles, California, died: 1985, Loma Linda, California. After a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, Dr. Judkins engaged in general practice for some ten years. He then trained in radiology at the University of Oregon, developing a particular interest in cardiovascular radiology. His prior skills in general mechanics and building construction and materials stood him in good state as he went on to make quantum improvements in the then-primitive field of transluminal angiography. In 1966, he introduced the Judkins Technique for Percutaneous Transfemoral Selective Angiography, still the world's most-used method for visualizing the coronary arteries. His Judkins catheters have also since facilitated visualization of cerebral vessels, and other small branch visceral arteries. Edward Harry Gee Hon '50, born: 1917, Shekki, Canton, China. Dr. Hon graduated at the top of his medical school class in 1950. He trained in OB/Gyn at Yale University where he was first introduced to academic medicine. His appetite whetted, he would spend some 31 years in teaching and research variously at Yale University, Loma Linda University, and the University of Southern California. He has held positions as department chair and professor of OB/Gyn and perinatology. He is best known for inventing the first workable fetal heart monitor still used today in delivery rooms around the world. Besides his many American awards, he has also been honored in Great Britain and Australia. In retirement, Dr. Hon actively continues to lecture, publish, and engage in scientific research. Joan Coggin '53-A, born: 1928, Washington, D.C. Professor of medicine and a pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Coggin is also special assistant to the president of LLU for International Affairs, a liaison position coordinating the University's various foreign activities. In the early 1960s, she co-founded the LLU Overseas Heart Surgery Team, which she has since directed. It has initiated and upgraded open-heart surgery programs in hospitals around the world from Saudi Arabia to North Korea, and from Greece to Kenya to Chile. Her latest project is developing a pediatric cardiac center in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. When completed, it will serve not only the Nepalese but also patients from neighboring countries where such care may not be available. Lawrence Daniel Longo '54, born: 1926, Los Angeles, California. Completing his residency in OB/Gyn at the USC-Los Angeles County Medical Center, Dr. Longo obtained a fellowship at UCLA studying fluid metabolism during pregnancy. He next spent a term of missionary service in Nigeria, during which he was also a part-time consultant at the University College Hospital at Ibadan. From 1962 to 1964 he was an assistant professor in OB/Gyn at the University of California at Los Angeles. He then moved to the University of Pennsylvania where he lectured, researched, and published extensively on the intricacies of perinatal physiology. He returned to Loma Linda University in 1968 as professor in the departments of physiology and OB/Gyn. His more recent work has concentrated on oxygenation and brain development in the fetus and newborn infant.

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2002, pages 24-25.

Click thumbnails to enlarge photos and read bios. 

Hatsuji James Hara '18, born: 1888, Okayama, Japan, died: 1977, Yucaipa, California. Hatsuji Hara came to Seattle, Washington, in 1905, to find his future. While attending Walla Walla College in Washington, he set his sights on becoming a physician. The first foreign graduate of CME/LLUSM, Dr. Hara was widely known as the most honored and degreed faculty member in the ear, nose, and throat department at his alma mater. From 1942 through 1946, he had to relocate to the University of Chicago. Interestingly, Dr. Hara was not eligible for U.S. citizenship until Congress passed the new immigration act of 1952. One of his most outstanding awards was an audience with the Emperor of Japan in 1965 when the Japanese government bestowed on him the Medal of Merit for promoting understanding and good will between the United States and Japan. Ruth Janetta Temple '18, born: 1892, Natchez, Mississippi, died: 1994, Los Angeles, California. Dr. Temple was born into a family which highly valued formal education. Her father, a Baptist minister, was a graduate of a Methodist theological seminary, while her mother attended a teacher's college. She was one of 22 classmates and the first African-American alumna in its long distinguished history. Her mission field was in the underprivileged sections of Los Angeles, where she practiced pediatrics and performed and supervised hundreds of home deliveries. In 1941, she attended Yale University and earned a degree in public health. She capped her career as medical secretary of the Southern California Conference of SDA. In 1983, the East Los Angeles Health Center was renamed the Dr. Ruth Temple Health Center. Gilbert Gordon Hadley '44-B, born: 1921, Takoma Park, Maryland. Dr. Hadley is an acknowledged legend of LLUSM having served it for 53 years. He was with the U.S. 15th Army in Europe during the concluding campaigns of World War II. Dr. Hadley has shown an uncommon skill in balancing administration and academia. He has held teaching positions at LLUSM, in India, Afghanistan, and China. He was dean of LLUSM from 1977 to 1986 and president of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhzou, China, from 1996 to 2001. It was toward the end of this last position that he received official Afghanistan invitations to return to help establish and augment up-to-date pathology programs in their medical schools. In spite of 9-11-01, Dr. Hadley has continued his work there. An author and one of Afghanistan's most respected medical educators has declared, "Like Albert Schweitzer, he is dedicated to the human cause." Findlay Ewing Russell '51, born: 1919, San Francisco, California. Dr. Russell earned his undergraduate degree from Walla Walla College. When World War II broke out, he was issued gear for the South Pacific and shipped to the Aleutian Islands. After the fall of Attu, he was posted to the South Pacific where he was awarded the Purple Heart for severe shrapnal injuries. A true Renaissance man, Dr. Russell earned a doctor of philosophy degree in 1974. He joined the faculty of the University of Arizona College of Pharmacology in 1981 after many years of lecturing and publishing at the University of Southern California and LLUSM. A recent University of Arizona toxicology newsletter states: "He holds patents on four technical medical procedures and serves as a regular consultant to government agencies worldwide." Ira Eugene Bailie '52, born: 1923, Compton, California. Dr. Bailie saw action with the U.S. Army Air Corps in Europe during World War II. Post-war, he attended La Sierra College and LLUSM. His goal at graduation has been to be a country doctor, but he received an urgent call from the General Conference of SDA informing him that a physician was needed in far-way Paraguay. He would stay there with brief furloughs—mainly for surgical training and board certifications—until his permanent return to California in 1972. Dr. Bailie practiced surgery in Turlock, California, until 1997, when he retired. Or so he thought. The General Conference came calling again, and soon he was on his way to Scheer Memorial Hospital of SDA near Kathmandu, Nepal, where he served until the end of 2000. David Jeston Baylink '57, born: 1931, Portland, Oregon. Dr. Baylink earned his BA from Walla Walla College in 1953. After graduating from LLUSM, he studied internal medicine and endocrinology at the Lahey Clinic in Boston. In 1966, he established the mineral metabolism research laboratory at the University of Washington School of Medicine. His prolific output of original articles for premier scientific journals earned him election into numerous prestigious scientific and medical organizations. He sat on the editorial boards of four medical journals and authored several book chapters. In 1981, Dr. Baylink accepted the invitation to join the faculty of his alma mater as a distinguished professor of medicine. He is described by experts in the field as the world's leading investigator in osteoporosis and its evaluation, treatment, and prevention.

 

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2003, pages 24-25.

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Day Dean [David] Coffin '20, born: 1893, Monticello, Washington, died: 1972, Portland, Oregon. In 1924, Dr. Coffin was called to Nanning, China. Once he overcame the initial reluctance of the locals regarding his foreign ways and medicines, his patients ranged from peasants to warring generals. In time, he was able to communicate in both Mandarin and Cantonese. In 1940 he was posted to the Canton Mission Hospital, shortly before the Japanese army of World War II invaded the city. House arrest soon turned into internment behind barbed wire. Fortunately, sons Galen '49, and Harold had been earlier evacuated to the U.S. In 1943, Mrs. Edyth Coffin was sent home in a prisoner exchange arrangement while Dr. Coffin stayed behind. In late 1945, World War II ended and the inmates were freed, but the General Conference of SDA had no replacement to send to Canton. Dr. Coffin resumed his work until the end of 1946 when he was finally able to return to the U.S., and a reunion with the family (which had not been together for seven years). Galen Homer Coffin '49, born: 1920, Lafayette, Indiana. Dr. Coffin lived in Canton, China, from four years of age until he was nineteen, when he began studies at Walla Walla College, Washington. His subsequent enrollment in the College of Medical Evangelists was for the sole purpose of preparing him to return home to China. Upon graduation in 1949, however, world politics had changed, and he instead went to Youngberg Memorial Hospital in Singapore. Achieveing additional certification by the Canadian Medical Board, Dr. Coffin would work in Singapore from 1950 to 1976 (except for brief furloughs, and from 1966 to 1969 when he took a residency in anesthesiology at the University of Oregon). Of note is that the earlier years there were complicated by the ravages World War II has wreaked on the island, as well as by the dangerous political climate of the Communist Emergency which lasted into the early 1960s in Singapore and Malaysia. Ellsworth Edwin Wareham, born: 1914, Avinger, Texas. Dr. Wareham's father, a peanut farmer, moved his family to Alberta, Canada, in 1920. the living was hard-scrabble, and his early schooling was in a one-room schoolhouse with ten pupils. He began his career as a school teacher after graduating from Canadian Junior College, but it wasn't long before he became convinced that practicing medicine should be his lifework. Medical school finished, he took residencies in surgery, subspecializing in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. His avid interest in open-heart surgery was sparked as far back as 1953 by reports of a "heart-lung machine" used in an atrial septal defect repair. Co-founding the Loma Linda Overseas Heart Surgery Team in the early 1960s, his leadership greatly contributed to both direct patient care as well as the establishment of long-term educational and training programs in at least seven different countries ranging from Asia to Europe. He has received major commendations both at home and abroad from his work. He was on the LLUSM faculty from 1955-1986. James Gray Haughton '50, born: 1925, Panama City, Panama. Dr. Haughton attended Pacific Union College in northern California prior to entering medical school. Upon graduation, he moved to Brooklyn, New York. Among other things, his urban practice stimulated in him a lifelong interest in all aspects of public health. His career since then has shown him skillfully balancing patient care, program management, and academia. After obtaining his MPH degree from Columbia University, he was director of medical care and first deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Hospitals. He has also been, at various times, executive director of health and hospitals Governor's Commission in Chicago; director of the Houston City Health Department; and medical director of the King/Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He has served on the university faculties of Columbia, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, and Drew. Morton Murray Woolley '51, born: 1924, Atlanta, Georgia. There are many firsts in Dr. Woolley's professional career. He was the first LLUSM graduate to be appointed to the American Board of Surgery, and was the chair of the pediatric surgery committee of the board (1976-1985). He was the first board-certified pediatric surgeon and the first pediatric surgery program director at LLUSM. He was the first to operate on twins with esophageal atresia who survived; the subsequent report of which is a classic in medical literature. He served as full-time Surgeon-in-Chief at the Los Angeles Children's Hospital and concurrently as a full professor of surgery at the University of Southern California. He has been president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association. Dr. Woolley's commitment to his SDA heritage is long and deep. He was head elder at the White Memorial Church, and later at the Glendale City SDA Church. He has given mission/volunteer service in Thailand, Israel, and Hungary. Peggy June Fritzsche '66, born: 1941, Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Fritzsche was a National Merit Scholar in high school. Her undergraduate studies at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and medical schooling at Loma Linda were underwritten by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. She finished a radiology residency at the White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles, and was recruited by Melvin P. Judkins '47 to join the faculty of her alma mater, staying from 1971-1991. She became well-known for making significant contributions to advances in the use of iodinated contrast materials, as well as in the areas of cardiovascular and urologic radiology. She has also extended her innovative skills into magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. Dr. Fritzsche has held multiple "extra-curricular" positions, including presidency of the San Bernardino County Medical Society and is currently president of the Radiological Society of North America.  

 

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2004, pages 22-23.

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Olive Santee Smith '15, born: 1879, Oswego, Kansas, died: 1946, Loma Linda, California. Dr. Smith was the first graduate of CME to serve her Church in an overseas appointment. Her father was Clarence Santee, the first president of the Southern California Conference of SDA and CME Bible teacher. She graduated in the second class of the medical school along with her sister, Orpha L. Santee. After marrying Frank Smith, a nurse at Loma Linda Sanitarium, they accepted a call to India and arrived in the Punjab in September, 1916. As was common to the time, she concentrated her ministry on women and children. To visit her patients in the surrounding villages, her husband would transport her seated on the handlebars of his bicycle. Her term of service lasted seven years, including a teaching stint at Dr. Ira Scudder's Women's Medical College in Vellore, south India. She subsequently taught and researched in allergy at CME. Alonzo John Neufeld '35, born: 1906, Enid, Oklahoma, died: 1984, Glendale, California. The Neufeld Society was founded in 1987 under the umbrella of the LLUSM Alumni Association in honor of a healer respected for his patient ways as a master teacher, superb surgeon, and craftsman. Dr. Neufeld credited his Russian Mennonite immigrant grandfather, a wheelwright, for awakening his life-long interest in finding practical solutions to mechanical problems. Orthopaedics as a profession was inspired by the bone-setting abilities of a Knochenarzt whose work he observed during a sophomore year stint in a Bakersfield hospital. His inventions have included the Neufeld Nail Plate, the Neufeld Pin, and the Neufeld Elbow Exercizer, among at least ten proprietary patents. Dr. Neufeld also founded the Alumni Research Foundation, which manufactured and marketed his Neufeld Nail for the benefit of LLUSM. Jasper Wayne McFarland '39, born: 1913, Brawley, California. After graduating from CME, Dr. McFarland worked in a vascular clinic. There he became impressed with the apparent ill-effects of cigarette smoking. Then, unfortunately, those who wanted to abandon the habit had to use the "stiff upper lip" mode and their own self-control. So, together with Pastor Elman Folkenberg, Dr. McFarland came up with one of the earliest lifestyle change programs in 1960, the Five-Day Play to Stop Smoking, incorporating medical expertise and spiritual guidance and counseling. The program was widely publicized in the public media including such publications as Time magazine. The impact of this program is history. Not only does it continue to be used in the United States, but it also has been taken around the world. In the 1990s, he was still being invited to lecture in countries like Russia and China. In the 1950s, he edited Life and Health, and Medical Arts and Science for the Review and Hearld Publishing Association. He is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Robert Melbourne McLennan '42, born: 1915, Shreveport, Louisiana, died: 1983, Pebble Beach, California. Dr. McLennan was first elected to the California Assembly in 1973 in a special election to fill an unexpired term. The next year he was re-elected to represent the 63rd Assembly District as the only physician among the usual lawyers and businessmen. The Los Angeles Times dubbed him, "The Watchdog of the State Legislature," for fighting to make public the secret spending records of the Legislature. In 1983, the State Legislature cited his major achievements in a resolution which was then presented to him. He was the son of a SDA minister and completed his undergraduate work at Columbia Union College before attending CME. He then served in the U.S. Army Air Corps for the duration of World War II in the Pacific Theater. He was a natural athlete and a gifted musician over the years, graduating from being "The Boy Tenor" of Memphis, Tennessee, to a bass soloist. Heath Rowsell '54, born: 1923, Loxton, South Australia. The only son of a semi-invalid farmer-orchardist (who had been severely injured in action while serving in the Australian army in Europe during World War I), young Heath dropped out of school at age twelve to help his father. About this time the family joined the SDA Church and he became increasingly interested in furthering his education. He felt a calling to engage in medical missions—especially in the China field. He breached the daunting gap in his schooling by taking correspondence courses. Then it was off to the United States to attend Walla Walla College and CME. Obtaining certification in general surgery in 1961, he was assigned to Burma. Until retirement in 1996, Dr. Rowsell gave continuous service in Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia—without ever once setting foot in his original goal, China. Still, he is known to the hospital staff and patients in his last posting as, "Ah Kong" (a reverential Chinese term for "Grandfather"). Brian Stanley Bull '61, born: 1937, Watford, England. Intellectual curiosity sparks esoteric research which can only be worthwhile when the results are applicable to solving life-threatening problems. After LLUSM, Dr. Bull completed a pathology residency at Yale University, fellowships at National Institutes of Health, and Hammersmith Hospital in London. From his seminal work in creating the first practical method to automate platelet counting; to first graphically capturing the instant of red cell fragmentation in microangiopathic hemolytic anemia; to cutting edge reports on disseminated intravascular inflammation; to the Bull algorithm (X-bar-B) adopted by all major manufacturers of multichannel analyzers for quality control in calibration—all of his work has unquestionably contributed to human well-being. In addition to his teaching, consulting, research, and administrative activities, Dr. Bull was former editor-in-chief of the international Blood Cells Journal.

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2005, pages 20-21.

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Bernard Daniel Briggs '40, born: 1911, North Jay, Maine. Dr. Briggs served in the U.S. Army from 1941-1946, seeing action in North Africa. At war's end, he joined the staff of the Massachusetts General Hospital and the faculty of Harvard University School of Medicine. He was later promoted to the post of director of the anesthesiology program at MGH. He organized one of the first respiratory care and post-anesthesia recovery units in New England. In 1955, he was a Fulbright lecturer posted to the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India. In 1956, he surprised his Harvard University colleagues by accepting a call from the College of Medical Evangelists to establish its anesthesiology residency program. This show of loyalty to his alma mater through the years did not go unnoticed by the administration and the residents privileged to train under him. He is also remembered as one of the strongest voices supporting the consolidation of CME's campuses to Loma Linda in the 1960s. In 1971 and 1974, he was a visiting professor to Afghanistan, and in 1987 to Nigeria. Kai Harold Pihl '46, born: 1916, Omaha, Nebraska. Two lusty boys were born twenty minutes apart on a late September day in a hotel room, temporary lodging for a family migrating from South Dakota to California. The elder was named Kai after his Danish artist father; while his brother was named Kern, after prominent SDA youth leader, M.E. Kearn. Financial struggles early took their toll and dysfunction set in. At the age of four, the twins were turned over to Grandmother Martha Barry in Redlands, California, to raise. Ends were met by hard work and learning how to make any available money stretch. Grandmother Barry died when the boys were fourteen, and adulthood suddenly arrived. They were separated and farmed out to different families to work for their sustenance. Once, while pondering their impoverished circumstances and uncertain future, Kern remarked to Kai that they should become medical doctors! Kai, the ever agreeable twin, thought that this was a good idea. The goal set, their pursuit of it was single-minded. The key was schooling and good grades. Any money earned was always first for school fees. There were years when they would trade places working and attending school. They would always remember the church members who gave them a helping hand and provided temporary lodging from time to time. On finishing medical school, Kai was assigned to Penang, Malaysia. Returning to California, he engaged in orthopaedic surgery. Overcoming a most unpromising childhood, Dr. Pihl, in his retirement, looks back with some wonder at having provided over 50 years of care for the ill and underprivileged. Kern Howard Pihl '47, born: 1916, Omaha, Nebraska. Two lusty boys were born twenty minutes apart on a late September day in a hotel room, temporary lodging for a family migrating from South Dakota to California. The elder was named Kai after his Danish artist father; while his brother was named Kern, after prominent SDA youth leader, M.E. Kearn. Financial struggles early took their toll and dysfunction set in. At the age of four, the twins were turned over to Grandmother Martha Barry in Redlands, California, to raise. Ends were met by hard work and learning how to make any available money stretch. Grandmother Barry died when the boys were fourteen, and adulthood suddenly arrived. They were separated and farmed out to different families to work for their sustenance. Once, while pondering their impoverished circumstances and uncertain future, Kern remarked to Kai that they should become medical doctors! Kai, the ever agreeable twin, thought that this was a good idea. The goal set, their pursuit of it was single-minded. The key was schooling and good grades. Any money eraned was always first for school fees. There were years when they would trade places working and attending school. They would always remember the church members who gave them a helping hand and provided temporary lodging from time to time. On finishing medical school, Kern went to Baghdad, Iraq, and subsequently to two terms of service in Juliaca, Peru. Returning to California, he engaged in family practice. Overcoming a most unpromising childhood, Dr. Pihl, in his retirement, looks back with some wonder at having provided over 50 years of care for the ill and underprivileged. Hughenna Louise Gauntlett '51, born: 1915, Siquirres, Costa Rica. Receiving the Distinguished Member Award from the Association of Women Surgeons in 1993 was a well-deserved cap to Dr. Gauntlett's career. She was born in straightened circumstances, but was spotted early as an excellent student. She served on the faculty of West Indian Training College for five years before moving to the United States to do pre-medical studies. After earning her medical degree, she engaged in family practice for some nine years in her "mission field," the Watts area of Los Angeles. Upon completing a surgical residency (she would face gander and social discrimination, among other things), she became board-certified in 1968. She then engaged in solo practice until retiring in 1986. She was also an assistant professor of anatomy at the University of California, San Diego. William Harry Abildgaard '52, born: 1921, Chico, California, died: 1987, Redwood City, California. Dr. Abildgaard's general practice in Rialto, California, in the 1950s served many pregnant women. At that time, this meant the daily use of many pairs of thick, heavy, rubber surgical gloves. This, in turn, necessitated the onerous task of washing, sterilizing, and repackaging them after each use. One day, a little patient came into his office holding a Mickey Mouse balloon. As Dr. Abildgaard stared at it, he saw five fingers extending from the balloon, instead of the two mouse ears. When told by several manufacturers that his idea of affordable disposable gloves was impractical, he make his first "Tru-Touch" glove in his garage, and revolutionized more than just medical practice. Among his other practical successful inventions were the Spray-Dip (for delousing livestock) and Velo-bind machines. Proceeds from the former were what financed his medical education. Arthur Willard Weaver '53-A, born: 1923, Arpin, Wisconsin. Dr. Weaver placed second in his graduating class from LLUSM. After obtaining board certification in surgery, he went into private practice in Pontiac, Michigan. From 1961-1966, he served at Karachi Adventist Hospital in Pakistan, where, among other things, he developed an interest in head and neck cancer surgery (this condition was quite common in that country). Returning to the U.S., he was hired into the department of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine as the primary head and neck surgeon. In his more than three decades on this faculty, he was chief of surgery at the Allen Park Veterans' Administration Hospital, and a member of the executive committee of the National Society of Head and Neck Surgeons. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. For his nearly forty years of civic activities, the Detroit News named him, "Michiganian of the Year (1987)."

 

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2006, pages 22-23.

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Albert Edmund Hirst, Jr. '42, born: 1915, Riverside, California, died: 2003, Loma Linda, California. "Name two characteristics of yellow fever," is a well-remembered test question typical of Dr. Hisrt's wry classroom wit. Skilled at building his own boats and sailing them, he was appointed Commodore of the Riverside Yacht Club based at Lake Evans in Fairmont Park when he was fifteen. The next summer, he took his twelve-foot-long sloop to Catalina, and stayed in it for several weeks while he worked as a dishwasher at the St. Catherine Hotel in Avalon. He chaired the pathology department at LLUSM from 1963 to 1973. He was chief of pathology at the LLVAH from 1977 to 1986. He is best known for his original work on atherosclerosis and, in particular, aortic aneurysms. He had 71 articles published in the standard medical journals. His comprehensive review of 505 cases of dissecting aneurysms (1958) became a Citation Classic in the Current Concepts Journal. It has been cited some 285 times in medical literature since 1961. William Wagner '44-B, born: 1920, Ogdensburg, New York. Dr. Wagner grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his father was an evaluator for Dunn and Bradstreet Credit Rating. In 1948, he accepted a call to Ile Ife Hospital in Nigeria where he stayed for five years. He was next the medical director (1954-1959) for Dar-es-Salaam Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. (This institution was donated to the SDA Church by local brothers Bashir and Nasif Hasso.) He fondly recalls Baghdad as a cosmopolitan city that contained Muslims, Jews, and Christians; and the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers as being lush and very beautiful. His last stay in the Middle East was as the director of the SDA hospital in Benghazi, Libya (1960-1963). Since returning home, he has lectured in anatomy at LLUSM (1969-1990). During this period, he has additionally filled in for physicians on furlough in Malaysia, Vietnam, New Guinea, India, China, Africa, Europe, and South America. Dewane Adrian Brueske '47, born: 1921, Plainview, Minnesota, died: 2005, San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Brueske's Adventist roots lay with his maternal great-grandparents from Wales. By high school, his stated goals were to be not a missionary or a physician, but a chemical engineer. However, this and his exposure to medical cadet courses in preparation for service in the looming World War II nudged him toward medical school. His medical mission career would take him from the wilds of Alaska (where he honed his piloting skills), to Penang (Malaysia) for some five years, and then to opening the Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital in the Hong Kong Territories in 1963. Between 1989 and 1996, he served a term each in Botswana and Guam. In between mission stints, he finished residencies in general practice and general and thoracic surgery. On home territory, he helped set up open heart surgery and pulmonary medicine programs in hospitals in California, Texas, and Washington. His colleagues knew him as a surgeon with the mindset of a internist. Duane Maynard Cady '59, born: 1934, Endicott, New York. In his senior year at Loma Linda, Dr. Cady was nominated for membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. From 1965 to 1966 he was captain and army surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Vietnam. Back home, Dr. Cady engaged in some thirty years of a very busy surgical practice in upstate New York. He was also deeply involved with the political side of medicine, being a member of or charing various august local and national governing bodies, councils, and committees. His activities have helped the American Medical Association develop positions on various issues concerning physicians, Medicare and Medicaid programs, health insurance coverage, and managed care. His positions in the AMA include chair of the Board of Trustees, member of the Executive Committee, and past president of the AMA foundation. James Ming Phang '63, born: 1938, Hankow, China. Dr. Phang's father, Samuel H. Phang '33, who was associated with SDA medical work in China, returned to the U.S. in 1940 in the early throes of World War II. The family would not be together again until 1946. From his early days in school, James would prove to be an exceptional performer, combining focus with a quick mind. By graduation from LLUSM, he had been elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and received the Daniel P. Comstock award. His postgraduate work was finished at Stanford University. Then it was off to the National Institutes of Health to do work on computerized compartmental analysis of radiocalcium kinetics. He has since been section chief in the Metabolism Branch. When the National Cancer Institute was reorganized in 1998, he engaged in novel studies on the mechanisms of programmed cell death. His most recent research focused on the effects of bioenergetics, oxygen, and nutritional stress in apoptosis, carcinogenesis, and cancer progression. He is the author of over 120 publications. Donald Edward Melnick '74, born: 1949, Elmira, New York. Asked about Dr. Melnick, a classmate recently remarked that his speciality is "excellence." In 1971 he graduated magna cum laude from Columbia Union College. When he was a senior at LLUSM, he was chosen for inclusion in Alpha Omega Alpha. In 1976, he completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Vermont. He was appointed to the National Board of Medical Examiners staff in 1983 as senior medical evaluation officer, and deputy vice president of International Development and Research. In July, 2002, he became president of the NBME; and in 2002, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the American College of Physician Executives. Ongoing work includes the development of new tools for assessment of professional attributes, developing effective systems for assessing ongoing physician competence, and exploring opportunities for international collaboration.

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2007, pages 20-21.

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Joseph Car Johannes '29, born: 1899, Julfa, Iran, died: 1996, Loma Linda, California. Dr. Johannes was born into the Hovanessian family, one of seven siblings. His parents were of a merchant and land-owning class. Elementary and secondary schooling was completed at a French Jesuit institution in his home country. He attended the LaMartiniere College in Calcutta, India, and, according to family lore, it was here that he adopted Johannes as his official family name because he felt that it would be a better fit in a western environment. He next followed an older brother to the United States where he attended Pacific Union College in northern California. Here he was introduced to the Seventh-day Adventist message which would influence the rest of his professional career. By graduation from CME/LLUSM, he was committed to the ideal of working for people in need in all parts of the world. He was in private practice in Santa Cruz for six years until the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists called him to a mission service, to which he would devote his next forty years. He was responsible for starting medical institutions in Bangladesh and Myanmar. He served in five divisions of the world field of his church, working at various times in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, Okinawa, Libya, Ethiopia, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, and Curaco. He was 76 years old at his last station of service, and 90 when he finally retired. Francis You-King Lau '47, born: 1924, Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Lau's long, distinguished career in the field of medicine and cardiology has included patient care and numerous academic appointments at the University of Southern California and LLUSM. He was chief of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at USC 1963-1979, and at the White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles 1980-1999. He has been professor of medicine at LLUSM since 1980, and has published widely and given many popular scientific presentations at home and abroad. He took his internal medicine residency at Queens Hospital in Honolulu, San Francisco County Hospital, and San Francisco VA Hospital. In 1962, he completed a cardiology fellowship at Presbyterian Medical Center in the same city. The Laus were Cantonese Hawaiian. His father, Luck Yee Lau, was a pitcher for the University of Hawaii, who later became a dental technician. His mother, Juliette, was an elementary school teacher and librarian whose adoptive family was Seventh-day Adventist. Dr. Lau's daughter, Kathleen Lau Peverini '82, recalls that on Sundays he would do some gardening or cooking, wash his car, and then (prior to his recent knee surgeries) drive to the beach at Doheny or San Onofre—for an afternoon of surfing. Gail Victor Anderson '53-B, born:1925, Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Anderson served as a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman from 1943-1946. Following graduation from CME/LLUSM, he moved to Georgetown University for a residency in OB/GYN. In 1958, he relocated to Southern California, where he would spend the rest of his professional life at Los Angeles County Hospital and the University of Southern California. He felt that these were institutions "where ability to afford or pay for medical care did not prevent or interfere with that care," a philosophy totally in line with the Christian principles inculcated in his earlier life. In addition to tending to patients, he immersed himself in research on toxemia, diabetes in pregnancy, bacterial shock, and premature rupture of fetal membranes. Dr. Anderson would continue to be bothered by what he remembered of emergency room treatments while he was a resident. Injured patients would be seen by whichever physician was on rotating call, regardless of whether his skills were appropriate to the injury. To correct this situation, Dr. Anderson worked tirelessly to establish the first academic department of emergency medicine in the United States at USC in 1971. He became a founding member of the American Board of Emergency Medicine in 1976, and its president from 1987 through 1988. The emergency department of LACH/USC is now the "Gail V. Anderson, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine." Stanley Gordon Sturges '55, born: 1929, Songa Mission, Congo, Africa. Dr. Sturges was named one of the ten "Nation's Outstanding Young Men for 1961" by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce for pioneering medical missionary work in the once "closed" Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. Growing up on a mission station (his father was J. Hubert Sturges '20) he developed skills in mechanics, repair and construction, and a lifelong interest in sports (he was an All-American awardee in volleyball in 1955). When he came to Banepa in 1957, the usual last outpost for expeditions to Mt. Everest, it was a town with no qualified physician. An indispensable partner in his work was his wife, Raylene LLUSN '53, who skillfully bridged gender differences in the local culture. In addition to various petitions on his behalf to the local government, the townspeople used their own funds to buy land on a hill and build a clinic and a hospital. Scheer Memorial Hospital was finished in 1960 and has been in continuous operation to the present. Attending the opening ceremonies were representatives of the Nepalese and U.S. governments, and Adventist church officials. Returning to the U.S. in 1962, he studied psychiatry at the Menninger School of Psychiatry; then established the psychiatry program at Kettering Memorial Hospital in Ohio. He later moved to Portland, Oregon, where he was director of various hospital programs. Virchel Edgar Wood, Jr. '60, born: 1934, Leominster, Massachusetts. Dr. Wood came to CME/LLUSM after graduating from Atlantic Union College. His orthopaedic residency was completed at Worchester City Hospital in Massachusetts, followed by two hand fellowships at Harlem Hospital in New York City, and in Hamburg, Germany. When he completed U.S. Army service, he briefly engaged in private practice in Walla Walla, Washington, before being recruited to LLUSM in 1971. Since then he has brought significant national and international prestige to it through teaching, research, publications, visiting professorships and guest lectureships. Dr. Wood has published 13 book chapters and over 120 scientific articles. In 1995, the American Society for Surgery of the Hand honored him as the "most frequently cited author in congenital hand literature in the past 50 years." He is a founding member of the International Congenital Hand Anomalies Study Group. From 1982 to 1990, he served as associate editor of the Journal of Hand Surgery (American). A quintessential Renaissance Man, he is also a recognized gemnologist, who serves as curator at the World Museum of La Sierra University in Riverside, California; a prize-winning writer of poetry and motivational articles in church and lay publications; and an enthusiastic baritone in musical circles. Gilbert Miracle Burnham '68, born: 1942, Los Angeles, California. After interning at Kettering Memorial Hospital, he served as a U.S. Army physician in Korea, where, in his off-time he and a group of medics provided health care for villagers in the countryside. Internal medicine studies were completed at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center, and then it was off to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for a master's degree (1976). From 1976 to 1991, he practiced in and tirelessly administered the Malamulo SDA Hospital in Malawi, modernizing its programs in medical assistants, nursing, medical technology, and midwifery. He researched onochocerciasis, backed up by a $120,000 grant from WHO. He received a PhD in epidemiology from the University of London in 1988. In 1991, he was invited to join the faculty of Johns Hopkins University where he was soon promoted to professor in its Bloomberg School of Public Health. Since then he has overseen projects in building and rebuilding health care systems in Africa, Albania, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, China, North Korea, Singapore, and Afghanistan. At home, he is chair of the Mectizan Expert Committee, and sits on the board of ADRA.

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2008, pages 24-25.

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Harold George Hebard '25, born: 1900, La Forge, Wisconsin, died: 1979, Hong Kong. Dr. Hebard worked in India from 1927 to 1939. He then accepted an urgent call to Penang, Malaysia, little knowing that tumultuous world events were about to descend on the island. On December 11, 1941, he stepped outside his clinic and saw the first three Japanese bombs fall in the neighborhood. He continued to treat patients in between bombing raids for the next two days. Finally learning that enemy soldiers were only twenty-five miles away, he had to evacuate. The rest of his adventures on the 600-mile drive to Singapore and the escape ship back to the United States need no embellishing: obtaining enough petrol for the trip, driving at night with the headlights blacked out, running off the two-lane highway, and later avoiding enemy U-boats in the Atlantic. He would not see Penang again until about 22 years later when he visited son William '55, who was stationed there from 1963 to 1966. Grandson James '87 also practiced in Penang from 2005 to 2007. He served fill-in terms in Trinidad, Vietnam, and Hong Kong during his practice days in Long Beach, California. Retiring in 1975, he went to Hong Kong on a regular mission appointment. He passed away there in 1979. Frank Wilson Jobe '56, born: 1925, Greensboro, North Carolina. Dr. Jobe joined the U.S. Army in 1943 as a medical records clerk and quickly found himself in action in Europe as a member of the much-decorated 326th Airborne Medical Company, 101st Airborne Division. It survived many furious encounters with enemy fire and bombing during World War II. On December 19, 1944, in Bastogne, Belgium, the Company was surrounded by German soldiers and forced to surrender. Adrenaline was running high when his companion saw and opening and shoved a distracted guard aside. The two quickly dove down the hillside, sliding onto a road. They scampered into a passing truck which fortunately turned out to be American. His experience with the Army medical personnel who had to perform in severe battle situations influenced him to become a physician. After CME/LLUSM, he completed an orthopedics residency at Los Angeles County General Hospital. Here he became acquainted with orthopedist Robert Kerlan, MD, a mentor who would later partner with him in practice. They founded the renowned Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic which served most of Los Angeles' major sports teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and the PGA tours. Dr. Jobe became recognized for his expertise in treating baseball players and their throwing arms. Samuel Lee DeShay '59, born: 1933, Columbus, Ohio. Dr. DeShay's Adventist roots date back to when his great-grandfather witnessed the "falling of the stars." An encounter with rhabdomyosarcoma in his left thigh in 1958 cost him a year out of medical school. Post-graduation, he practiced briefly in Tennessee before accepting a call to Nigeria. This, with subsequent terms in Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Kenya totaled 15 years of mission service in Africa. While there, he earned the enduring trust and friendship of both the populace and leaders in government. From 1976 to 1984, he was the director of the department of health for the General Conference of SDA. Other positions which have filled his time have been Acting Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce (the U.S. Weather Service), and President and CEO of the Pan African Development Corporation (USA). For this last, he has been developing, with local government support, The City of Light (Africa's 21st century technopolis), located on the Ssese Islands of Lake Victoria, Uganda. Features will include a medical complex, centers for social services, resort and conference facilities, International Olympics Sports Center, the Christ Chapel, and residential and commercial sites. James Munro Slater '63, born: 1929, Salt Lake City, Utah. Besides attacking diseased tissues, Dr. Slater's primary concern was the need to reduce or eliminate the side effects of irradiation treatments. He pioneered computer-assisted radiotherapy planning, introducing the first such system in 1971. This earned him a first-place award from the European Association of Radiology in 1975 and an invitation to speak at the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria. In 1978, he won the first place award from the American Society of Therapeutic Radiologists. He began investigation proton radiation therapy in 1970 with the same goal of better targeting malignancies. By 1984, imaging and computing technology has advanced to the point that a hospital-based treatment system was a possibility. With input from renowned physicists around the world, he worked tirelessly to design, develop, and construct the Loma Linda Proton Treatment Center. The first of its kind, it opened in 1990. In 2007, it was renamed the James M. Slater, MD, Proton Treatment and Research Center. LLUSM radiation research laboratories presently explore radiation physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, and physiology, and are engaged in joint programs with NASA, the Departments of Energy and Defense, and other universities. Michael Harry Walter '73-B, born: 1947, Spokane, Washington. After Walla Walla College in 1970, Dr. Walter received an acceptance to U.C. Berkeley to continue his biophysics studies, but opted instead for medicine at LLUSM. He had been impressed with the practice of medicine from when he received treatment for polio at age four. After internship at LLUSM, he enrolled in the U.S. Army and trained in internal medicine at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Colorado, and gastroenterology at Walter Reed Army Hospital. In 1988, Lt. Colonel Walter switched to reserve duty status and joined the LLUSM faculty. His army service included active duty in Desert Storm (1990), and being in charge of reserve medical units as Brigadier General in eight southeastern states (2001). In 2004, he commanded the 8th Medical Brigade overseeing and organizing clinic and hospital services variously in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In looking back, Dr. Walter states that it was good to have served the country and gained experience from his extensive management duties. At LLUSM, he enjoys his gastroenterology practice and teaching. He feels that the greatest fulfillment a physician can have continues to be direct patient care. This is the urgent message that he emphasizes to his students and residents. Linda Hyder Ferry '79-B, born: 1955, Castro Valley, California. Dr. Ferry completed her master's degree in public health at LLUSPH, and obtained board certification in preventive medicine in 1988. She was appointed chief of the preventive medicine section at the Jerry L. Pettis Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the same year. Early on, she developed an interest in the illness of tobacco dependence and its treatment, and this has resulted in her many original contributions to this topic. She was the first to study bupropion as an aid to smoking cessation in 1991, and by 1997, it was the first nicotine-free treatment for this habit approved by the FDA. She has since received funding from the NIH and The American Legacy Foundation for various training project in medical schools in the U.S. and abroad. In 1999, the World Health Organization gave her a Medal Award; and in 2001, she received the Vernelle Fox Award from the California Society for Addiction Medicine. She has authored extensively in the lay press, peer-reviewed journals, and medical textbook chapters. Other innovations include starting the Foundation for Innovations in Nicotine Dependence (www.findhelp.com), and the Internet "Stop Smoking Today Online Project" (SSTOP) on America Online.

 

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2009, pages 28-29.

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Roy Burlew Parsons '29, born: 1905, Salem, New Jersey, died: 1993, Hemet, California. The Parsons name is permanently etched in the lore of SDA medical work in Angola, Africa. He was the Bongo Mission Hospital physician continuously from 1931-1975, most of the time working solo. He took only two short furloughs, in 1939 and in 1949. His son, David '59-aff, joined him from 1961-1975. The family was Seventh Day Baptist dating back to the 1600s. His parents joined the Seventh-Day Adventist Church when he was a young man. After internship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, he attended the University of Lisbon medical school where he earned a degree and license to practice in all Portuguese territories. Post World War II in 1949, it was reported that Bongo Mission had "eight dwellings in addition to the church, schoolhouse, industrial building, and hospital units." The population of Angola then was estimated at 300,000 Europeans and three million natives. In 1975, Angola gained independence from Portugal and the chaos of civil was descended on the country. The Parsons' work was closed. It took ten arduous days of negotiating country roads and battling factions to reach the South African border. David Justice Parsons '58-aff, born: 1930, Lisbon, Portugal. Dr. Parsons was born in Portugal while his father was studying for his Portuguese medical degree. He began medical school at Loma Linda, but his missionary father had difficulty supporting two sons (Roy B. Parsons, II '57 and David) simultaneously at CME. He then transferred to the University of Neuvo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico, where he completed his studies. After internship at Hinsdale Hospital in Illinois, he worked briefly at Cook County Hospital where he picked up a certificate in anesthesia. He arrived in Angola in late 1961 to begin work at Bongo Mission. Because of political unrest, he had to claim Portuguese citizenship. In 1963, he earned a post-doctoral degree from the School of Tropical Medicine in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1975 the Parsons evacuated to South West Africa where David was immediately requisitioned by the government to help in the refugee camps. By 1978 he was Chief Medical Superintendent of South West Africa. Father Roy worked briefly at Maluti and then joined David at the Windhoek State Hospital. The Parsons family finally left Africa in 1979. Joseph Nobuo Nozaki '57, born: 1927, San Francisco, California. On March 25, 1994, Dr. Nozaki and his wife traveled to Japan, his father's homeland, to receive the Humanitarian Award from the Emperor. Each year the award is given to 20 nationals living in Japan and two outside the country. His years of medical service are impressive: Sanatorio Adventista de Asuncion, Paraguay (1964-1971); Youngberg Memorial Hospital, Singapore (1979-1980); Kaosiung Adventist Clinic, Taiwan (1981-1985); Guam Seventh-day Adventist Clinic, Guam (1985-2002). Post World War II and the relocation camps, Dr. Nozaki earned a master's degree in bacteriology from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. After LLUSM he studied surgery, finishing as chief resident at Creighton University Hospital in Nebraska. While he was in Paraguay, he noticed many settlements of Japanese (mostly engaged in agriculture) in the country. The idea then came to him to invite his father, retired Pastor Kinichi Nozaki, to come and minister to them while he looked after their physical needs. This teamwork lasted several years and was very productive. His son, James K. Nozaki '95, presently works at the Guam Clinic. Charles R. Simmons '59, born:1930, Hamilton, Iowa. Few physician today can remember a time when diagnoses were made solely on examination and history—without angiograms to help visualize organs without resorting to invasive dissections. The design of the Simmons Catheter involved consideration of a complicated interaction of factors including shape, materials, guide-wires, and the transmission of torque from the operator's fingers to the catheter tip. The vascular intima had to be spared while maneuvering the tip into the desired ostium. The catheter was initially used for studying the aortic arch and cerebral vascularization, but is presently employed in the abdomen and other areas of the body. LLUSM radiologist Eric Tsao '63-aff playfully called it the "Sidewinder," a variation on the Judkins "Cobra" catheter. Although Dr. Simmons did not enthusiastically endorse this name, it is now known worldwide as the Simmons Sidewinder catheter. Dr. Simmons was chief of cardiovascular imaging at LLUSM (1967-1975); and director of the cardiovascular laboratory at St. Helena Hospital, northern California (1981-1983). Of note is that he did not take out a patent on his gift to the medical world. Howard V. Gimbel '60, born: 1934, Beiseker, Alberta, Canada. After completing his ophthalmology residency at the White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles, Dr. Gimbel opened his practice in Alberta in 1964. His natural bent for study, research, and teaching quickly came into play. He was the first Canadian ophthalmologist to use phacoemulsification on his patients and so introduced outpatient eye surgery to the country. He began radial keratotomy in 1984. In 1990 the Gimbel Eye Center in Calgary was the site of the first Excimer laser refractive surgery in Canada. He has authored and co-authored numerous textbook chapters and books and is a much-sought-after speaker at ophthalmology conferences in the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in 1999 named him one of the "25 most influential ophthalmologists of the 20th century." In addition to an array of organizational and academic awards, he also holds teaching appointments at university medical schools in Calgary, San Francisco, and Loma Linda. He was appointed chair of the department of ophthalmology at his alma mater in 2000. Fekede Gemechu '70, born: 1940, Gimbie, Ethiopia. Dr. Gemechu has been familiar with Seventh-day Adventist medical work from its early clinics to the six-story Empress Zewditu Memorial Hospital (1969), which became the preeminent medical institution in the Horn of Africa, servicing the local population as well as government staff, international business organizations, and foreign embassies. Deeply impressed with the dedication and achievements of the physicians, it became a life-goal to preserve the legacy of their labor. When he finished his surgical residency at the University of Maryland in 1975, the Ethiopian government had changed, and it was not the right time for him to return home. He practiced variously on the faculty of LLUSM and Kaiser-Permanente Medical Group. He served as chair of the latter's surgical department in Riverside, California, from 1985-1995, when he resigned to spend more time on his projects in Ethiopia. Also armed with an MBA degree, he presently manages International Medical Aid Association, a 501(c) (3) organization; and government-registered The Learning Village (grades 1-8) in Kalaala, outside of Addis Ababa.

 

From the Alumni Journal, October-December 2010, pages 22-23.

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Ralph Forest Waddell '36, born: 1907, Baraboo, Wisconsin, died: 1985, Loma Linda, California. Peng-ahn, Choi-chek, (Peace be with you, Uncle Choi) Dr. Waddell would greet an old friend in the Chinese teochew dialect as he exchanged greetings on any day in his Bangkok Clinic. As with many pioneer overseas workers of yesteryear, he was well integrated into the local milieu of his ministry. Dr. Waddell's Scots forebears had settled in the American Midwest to farm the land. His parents were Seventh-day Adventists. Long before any thoughts of mission appointments, he had become fascinated with exotic Siam (now Thailand) and focused on moving to and living there. On graduation from medical school, he married Ellen Dick, RN, who had agreed to go with him to Siam. When the president of the SDA Far Eastern Division heard of this, he offered him the alternative of a mission posting. This was accepted and he and his wife would wind up working in Siam from 1936-1941 and 1945-1960, establishing clinics, schools, and a hospital that has continuously operated (including through the WWII years) since then. He earned a PhD in tropical medicine from Tulane University and subsequently served as medical secretary for the Far Eastern Division and finally retiring in the post of General Conference medical director. Harald Udo Giebel '55-aff, born: 1930, Hannover, Germany. Dr. Harald grew up in the tumultuous days of World War II in Germany. His father, and SDA minister and conference president, had joined the Church at the turn of the last century. Located in Munich post-war, Harald attended the Ludwig-Maximilian University School of Medicine, finishing the traditional six-year course in five, submitting his Doctoral Approbation Thesis in 1955. He then interned at Krefeld-Urdingen before winning a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the United States. After tropical medicine courses at Bernhard Nocht Institute, Hamburg, in 1958, the Giebels accepted their first posting to Pakistan. They would spend a total of fifteen years there, establishing multiple para-medical training programs, in addition to doing patient care. After Pakistan, they have provided extended service in Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, and short terms in Bulgaria, Tanzania, and the Dominican Republic. Dr. Harald holds certifications in general, thoracic, cardiac and oncological surgery. He has licenses and registrations in Germany, USA, Canada, England, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Papua New Guinea. He is presently teaching at Christian Medical College in Vellore, India. The Giebels' son Herbert '88, serves at Ile-Ife SDA Hospital in Nigeria. Beverly Gertrude Giebel '56, born: 1930, Hinsdale, Illinois. Dr. Beverly's father, Carl Lindner from Germany, was a house decorator whose family was Seventh-day Adventist. Her mother, Clara, was a schoolteacher. Wanting to be a physician since her academy days, she studied chemistry at Andrews University before attending LLUSM. Internship was at Washington Sanitiarum and Hospital. One day she was discussing a patient with another physician when a new intern from Germany came walking down the hall looking for a room in which to stay. This chance meeting would lead to an enduring life partnership when they became married at the end of 1956. 1958 saw then in Hamburg, Germany, where they studied tropical medicine, and later that year they began a five-year mission appointment to Karachi, Pakistan. Back in the United States, Dr. Harald engaged in a surgicl residency at the White Memorial Medical Center, while Dr. Beverly studied anesthesiology. Then it was back to Karachi from 1971-1981. She recalls their time there with fondness as they integrated into the local staff and community and busily upgraded the facilities. Their mission service in multiple world locations would eventually total some thirty years—and counting, as they are now in Vellore, India. Effie Jean Potts Ketting '54, born: 1926, Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Effie Jean credits her life achievements to growing up in a stable Adventist home. Her father was Enos Aitken Potts '22. She was a music majojr at La Sierra University and continues to enjoy playing the cello, piano, pipe organ, and singing. Following graduation from LLUSM, she took residencies in OB/Gyn and Surgical Pathology. She continues to hold certification in the Medical Council of Canada, British Commonwealth List of Register, Certificate of Registration in Thailand, American Board of Pathology, Registration in the Federation of Malaysia, and Fellow of the International College of Surgeons (OB-Gyn). She met her husband during her pathology residency and Dr. Sam states that they "got married two hours" after his graduation from LLUSM in 1960. Both have declared that this was the beginning of their longstanding relationship and extensive adventures around the world in medical mission work. Their two children were born at their first mission appointment in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Marie Rena (Ginger) Ketting is now Vice Presidence at Walla Walla University (Washington), and Case Henri Ketting, MD (University of Washington, 1990) practices radiation oncology in Orange County, California. Samuel Ketting '60, born: 1927, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Dr. Sam's father was a blacksmith and he learned early the value of hard labor and getting things done. After high school in Rotterdam, he enrolled in Erasmus University studying technology and engineering. He served in the Royal Dutch Navy for three years working on radar and electronics. There was a short stay in the Dutch East Indiea (Indonesia) before moving to Adelaide, Australia, to work for Phillips Electrical. It was there that friends introduced him to the SDA Church, which he joined. He then attended Walla Walla University in the US, where he majored in chemistry with the intention of going to medical school. After marrying Dr. Effie Jean, and finishing his internship, they accapted their first mission assignment—to Bangkok, Thailand. Their longest appointment was to Penang, Malaysia, from 1967-1981. Returning to the US, they practiced in Kennewick, Washington, until 1994. Since they they have done volunteer service in Jamaica, Lilongwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, and Malaysia. Dr. Sam holds certification in the Medical Council of Canada, Certificate of Registration in Thailand, Registration in the Federation of Malaysia, and Fellow of the International College of Surgeons (general surgery). Richard Ladd Sheldon '68, born: 1943,  Oakland, California. After LLUSM, Dr. Sheldon served six years in the US Army, attaining the rank of major. Internal Medicine residency and a fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine/Critical Care were completed at Walter Reed Army hospital. He next returned to LLUSM where he was professor of medicine, director of residency training in Internal Medicine, medical ICU, hyperbaric medicine, and chief of pulmonary and critical care. In 1993 he moved into private practice. To date he has lectured in Asia, Europe, and the US, co-authored eight books on respiratory care, and published numerous articles and editorials. He was Honored Member of the Year in the American Association for Respiratory Care in 1991, and the Jimmy A. Young Medalist in 2001, the AARC's most distinguished honor. In 2010 he was named the Al Andrews awardee by the National Board for Respiratory Care for his contributions to the development of respiratory care science and credentialing. He is the current director of California State's Respiratory Care Board. Left-over spare time is spent in semi-professional banjo-playing and in active search and rescue missions with the San Bernardino Mounted Posse.

 
 

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