In Memoriam
Harold E. Pearson, ‘33, MD ‘38 June 22 at 97. Following graduation, Pearson interned and served as an instructor of bacteriology in Stanford‘s department of bacteriology and experimental pathology. In 1941, he received a master‘s degree in public health from the Harvard University School of Public Health. Pearson was board certified in pathology, and his expertise included public health, medical microbiology, and infectious diseases. His academic career included the following faculty roles: instructor of bacteriology, Stanford University, 1937 through 1939; instructor and assistant professor, epidemiology, Michigan School of Public Health, 1941 through 1944; assistant and associate professor, bacteriology, University of Southern California (later known as the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California), 1949 through 1966; and professor of microbiology, University of Southern California, 1966 through his retirement in 1976.
In 1939, Pearson married his first wife, Catherine Guerard (MD ‘38), who passed away in 1988. Together they had four children. In 1993, he married Mary Lou Hill, a public health nurse and gerontologist. Pearson is survived by his children from his first marriage, David Bruce Pearson, Leslie Pearson Rovainen, Gregory Anders Pearson; and three grandchildren. From his second marriage, he is survived by stepdaughters Melody Covell and Valerie Paton; and three grandchildren.
Pearson was an avid world traveler, painter, and boating enthusiast. Once he and Mary Lou were married, they settled in Fredericksburg, Texas, as Pearson wanted to become a gentleman farmer, a career he continued until the last few years of his life before moving to Lubbock, Texas, shortly before his death.
Sanford E. Feldman, ‘34, MD ‘38 February 4, at 93. Feldman was a longtime resident of San Francisco and Mill Valley, Calif., as well as Santa Fe, N.M. He had a lifelong interest in science and conducted basic research for years on food and water intake. He served as a physician in the U.S. military during World War II, and was for decades a general surgeon in private practice in San Francisco. Well respected by fellow doctors, he was active in the California Medical Association and served as president of the San Francisco Medical Society in 1969. A pioneer in the area of medical peer review, he was a founder and first director of the San Francisco Medical Peer Review Organization and became director of the California Medical Review Organization. After retirement from surgery, Feldman continued to work for the improvement of patient care. He is survived by his wife, Louise Taicher, MD; son David and his wife, Linda; daughters Wendy and Laurie; and son John.
Kenneth L. Allen, ‘41, MD ‘44 August 24, at 89. A football and track standout at Santa Clara High School, Allen graduated at the top of his class in 1938. At his surgical residency at San Francisco General Hospital, he became the youngest chief resident in the history of the hospital. It was there that he met Mary Jean Haynes, ‘42. After residency, he spent two years with the U.S. Naval Medical Service, serving as a surgeon in Long Beach, Calif. Thereafter, he spent two years as a fellow in surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, and returned to San Mateo, Calif., in 1950 to establish a surgical practice that he oversaw for 43 years, before retiring in 1993. Allen pioneered the use of routine intraoperative cholangiograms, helped establish the utility of mechanical retractors in the operating room, and introduced surgical stapling devices. He was a 50-year member of Peninsula Golf & Country Club and a founding member of Spyglass Hill in Monterey, Calif. Survivors include Mary Jean, his wife of 63 years; sons Robert H. Allen, MD ‘72; Bruce L. Allen, MD ‘74; and Christopher F. Allen, ‘82; and 13 grandchildren.
William F. Baxter, ‘45, MD ‘48 August 22, at 84. After earning his college and medical degrees at Stanford University, he had a 50-year career as an ear, nose, and throat surgeon. He served as a physician in the U.S. Army and then built a medical practice in Los Altos, Calif. He was dedicated to medical education, serving as acting director of the division of otolaryngology in the department of surgery at Stanford School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, training hundreds of young residents. He also served as the chief of medical staff (1967 through 1968) and chief of surgery (1977 through 1978) at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif. After retirement, he moved to Laguna Niguel, Calif., and became very involved as a volunteer for Sports Gift, a nonprofit organization that provides sports to impoverished children around the world. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou; children Susan Davis, Jane Baxter, Juliet Baxter, Kristopher Baxter, and Kevin Baxter; and 10 grandchildren.
Theodore M. Myers, ‘44, MD ‘48 May 11, at 83. A Bay Area physician and psychiatrist who for 25 years worked in and created volunteer medical clinics worldwide for refugees and the poor, Myers found inspiration for his calling in 1962 aboard Project Hope, the converted Navy hospital ship. Twenty years later, when the youngest of his five children had entered college, he and his wife, Peggy, committed themselves permanently to international relief work. He developed his first medical clinic in Sudan‘s eastern region. Much of his volunteer work was done for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which has aided and supported refugees worldwide. Myers‘s work took him to Ethiopia, establishing village-based medical programs throughout Gondar province and creating a large clinic in Addis Ababa that still provides medical care for 23,000 Ethiopian Jews who have migrated from remote villages in the countryside. Continuing his volunteer role with the JDC, he later established a pharmacy in Havana and organized a consulting program in Cuba that enabled American academic doctors to visit and consult with Cuban physicians on the latest advances in medical care and treatment.
In the former Soviet Union, Myers created a program to provide medicines for elderly, impoverished members of Jewish communities, and for the past 13 years he has conducted an annual international medical conference there, bringing leading physicians from U.S. medical schools to lecture to Russian-speaking doctors on advances in medical care. Before his involvement with international relief work, Myers practiced internal medicine and, later, psychiatry, working in San Mateo, Calif., for many years. He is survived by Peggy, his wife of 57 years; daughters Barbara, Melanie, and Jennifer; and sons James and Marc.
George S. Hjelte, MD ‘47 July 30, at 87. Hjelte served as second lieutenant in the Army Supply Corps and later became captain. He married Phyllis Princelau Hjelte in 1948 and the couple moved to Southern California. He worked in private practice in Pasadena, Calif., as a family physician and also served on the faculty of the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California for a number of years. In 1964, Dr. Hjelte was appointed chief of medicine at Huntington Memorial Hospital and two years later went on to serve as chief of staff there. In 1995, he retired after a fulfilling career of 50 years. In 2002, he was named the second recipient of the James N. Gamble Award affiliated with the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. After his retirement, Hjelte enjoyed travel with his wife, gardening, and visiting with his family. He is survived by his sister Dorothy H. Meyer; his four children, George C. Hjelte, Steven P. Hjelte, Phyllis S. Hjelte Waltz, and Lynne F. H. Fowler; and eight grandchildren.
Theodore Daniel Pletsch, ‘53, MD ‘56 March 1, at 76. After graduating from the Stanford University School of Medicine, he served in the U.S. Army before becoming an OB/GYN physician for Kaiser Permanente. He lived in Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash. Survivors include his wife, Sherryl; daughters Karen and Elaine; sons Ted and Ath; stepdaughter Chandra; and five grandchildren.
Edmonston F. Coil, MD ‘57 December 7, at 77. Coil had a distinguished 30-year career as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy, serving in many parts of the globe. His last assignment for the Navy was as commanding officer at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego. After retiring from the Navy he practiced internal medicine at the San Diego Life Extension Institute for 10 years. He then spent seven years as the medical director of General Dynamics before retiring. He is survived by his wife, Arlene; three sons; and seven grandchildren.
Robert Mishell, ‘55, MD ‘58 March 6, at 73. A professor emeritus of immunology at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of 45 publications, he invented the Mishell-Dutton culture technique in 1967, which is still in use today. Science was only one of many areas in which he contributed greatly to the community. He was active in the civil rights movement, worked to reduce underrepresentation of minorities in academia, and established a program for the social and humanistic aspects of health science education. The direction of his life changed when he and his wife, Barbara, were tragically beaten, leaving her with a traumatic brain injury. For the past 20 years, he dedicated all of his time and energy to his wife‘s recovery, allowing her to reach her full potential. He is survived by Barbara, his wife of 44 years; his son Jacob; and his two grandchildren.
Brice Norman Brown, MD ‘72 September 19, at 63. After graduating, Brown completed his medical residency in surgery in San Diego. He was a major in the U.S. Army, where he served as a flight surgeon. He moved to Las Vegas in 1980 and founded a private practice in general surgery, where he remained in practice until 1994. Dr. Brown held various offices in hospital leadership and was a member of the Clark County Medical Society. He is survived by his daughter Cherin Aquilar and son Peter Brown.
Richard D. Todd, MD, PhD (Housestaff) August 22, at 56, of leukemia. Todd was an internationally known expert on the influences of genetics and environment on psychiatric illness in children, addressing such disorders as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and affective disorders in childhood.
Todd was born in Oklahoma and completed his undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University. He earned a doctorate in biology at the University of Texas at Dallas and then a medical degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Stanford. He spent much of his career as a professor of psychiatry and director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the 2008 winner of the Elaine Schlosser Lewis Award from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for research on attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.
He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Karen O‘Malley, PhD; and children Lucas Todd and Anne O‘Malley Louis.