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Class Notes1942 Class representative Ed Sargent received a card from Bob Kirk, who has moved from Ohio to Miami. “Must warn him about the skin alert, etc.” Also from Dr. Sargent: “Newt Spears writes that he and wife, Alys, live in an active retirement area. They keep a log book to be sure that they can be available for the next activity. Newt is still keeping up with CME but not reporting. He keeps busy doing consultations constantly and is still an amateur ham radio operator. Newt uses a walker now to move from place to place. “Not a word from any other survivor from the class except occasional info from Drs. Madow, Motto and Rogoff – then it gets ever more quiet. Let not age, nor energy shortage deter us from staying in touch with one another.” 1944 Dale Hart of Massillon, Ohio, writes, “I am grateful to the medical school for giving me the opportunity to become a surgeon and enable me to serve my community as a physician and surgeon for many years. My main interest now, and for the past 45 years, continues to be working towards preserving the environment for the present and future generations. My main vehicle for doing this is the charity The Wilderness Center, located near Wilmot, Ohio.” 1947 William J. Fayen has enrolled in liberal arts courses at Central Florida Community College in Ocala, Fla., to make up for what he might have missed when he was preoccupied with science requirements in days of yore as a premedical student. Bill says this is a good way to keep cobwebs from stifling the little gray cells. William Haubrich writes, “The late William H. Havener graduated with the Class of 1948, but he began his studies in November 1943 with the Class of 1947 (illness obliged him to take a year’s leave from medical school). Bill devoted his professional career to academic the Ohio State University College of Medicine. A posthumous tribute to his service is the establishment of the William H. Havener Eye Center at OSU, a facility for research and training in ophthalmology. Thus, members of two successive classes at Case Western Reserve University are gratified by this recognition of their former classmate.” Dr. Havener, who died in 1991, was the first full-time ophthalmologist at OSU and chaired the ophthalmology department from 1959 to 1961 and from 1972 to 1988. 1948 William Havener (please see notes for 1947). 1953 Richard Diroll writes, “Finally (at 84 years), a new (first) granddaughter, Cecile, in November 2004.” His son is being treated by Steven Rubenstein, M.D. ’80, of Sunnyvale, Calif., whose father was a classmate. 1955 Thomas Linke, James Mulligan, Donald Seymour and Robert Spurney were recognized with 50-year awards at the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland/Northern Ohio Medical Association’s annual meeting April 29. Dr. Spurney is working on a novel about soldiers from the Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry during the Reconstruction. The novel tells the story of a captain in this unit who spends many months with the Skakers in the North Union colony. Dr. Spurney’s experiences in the armed forces, medicine and engineering stimulated an interest in American and world history – especially the Civil War and the Reconstruction. His previous works include a monologue about Gen. Ulysses S. Grant entitled The Name is Grant and a historical novel, A Family in War. 1960 Howard Rowen Jr. was named 2005 Clinician of the Year by the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland/Northern Ohio Medical Association at the organization’s April 29 annual meeting. The award recognizes his “long-time devotion and service to his patients.” Dr. Rowen is a clinical associate professor of medicine at his alma mater and at the end of April retired as an internist specializing in cardiovascular disease at University Hospitals of Cleveland and University Suburban Health Center. He has been active on the AMC/NOMA’s ethics committee and is a former board member. 1963 David Jenkins was inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame in October 2004, based on career accomplishments and contributions to sports in the Pikes Peak region. Among his accomplishments, he earned the bronze medal in the 1956 Olympics and the gold medal in the 1960 Olympics, both for figure skating. Also inducted in October was his brother, Hayes Alan Jenkins, who was the gold medalist in men’s figure skating in 1956. They are believed to have been the first brothers who participated together in the Olympics. 1966 Jean Reddell Berggren is now chief of psychiatry at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburg, N.Y., living much closer (than Cleveland) to grandchildren in Burlington, Vt. In August 2004, she earned a master of arts degree in anthropology at Case Western Reserve University. 1967 Gary Arsham recommends reading Diabetes: A Guide to Living Well, fourth edition. He co-authored the book, published recently by the American Diabetes Association. The book provides step-by-step guidance on how to live successfully and positively with the disease. It is available at bookstores, by calling (800) 232-6733, or at http://store.diabetes.org. 1970 Kenneth Marks delivered the commencement address and received an honorary doctor of science degree at his undergraduate alma mater, Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, on May 8. The honor makes Dr. Marks and his late father, Harry, the first father-son combination ever to receive honorary degrees from the college. Dr. Marks has been a trustee of the college since 1998. In his speech, he praised his father and spoke about the value of a liberal arts education, which “taught me to question the existing dogma in both life and science.” This questioning, he said, allowed him and a small number of other young surgeons to “develop techniques and equipment designed to save the vast majority of affected limbs” of those patients who suffered from malignancies of the musculoskeletal system. An orthopaedic surgeon specializing in musculoskeletal tumors and arthritis, Dr. Marks is 2005-2006 president of the Mid-America Orthopaedic Association and editor-in-chief of the Arthritis Advisor newsletter. He and his wife, Hilda, whom he also praised in his speech, have two daughters. Caroline is a judicial law clerk of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and Kristin recently earned her law degree from Case Western Reserve University. James Rambasek has been named first assistant treasurer of the board of trustees of Parma Community General Hospital, Parma, Ohio. 
Jonathan R. Wolpaw ’70
Jonathan R. Wolpaw was the lead author of a study published in December in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that a non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) that uses EEG recorded from the scalp can achieve complex movement control comparable to that reported for invasive BCIs that use electrodes implanted in the brain. The results suggest that people paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brainstem stroke, cerebral palsy, or other disorders could operate a neuroprosthesis or a robotic arm without needing to have electrodes implanted in their brains. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the James S. McDonnell Foundation. Dr. Wolpaw is chief of the Laboratory of Nervous System Disorders at the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health and a professor of biomedical sciences at the State University of New York in Albany. 
Stuart Youngner ’70
Stuart Youngner discussed how death is defined in the United States at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in February in Vatican City. The academy advises the pope. The alumnus is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar in bioethics and has published and spoken on topics related to decisions to limit life-sustaining treatment, physician-assisted suicide, advance directives, definitions of death, and ethical issues in organ retrieval and transplantation. He is the editor or co-editor of six books, including the recently released The Definition of Death: Contemporary Controversies (Johns Hopkins). He chairs the Department of Bioethics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. 1971 
Jeffrey Ponsky ’71
Jeffrey Ponsky was appointed chair of the Department of Surgery at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland (UHC), effective Feb. 1, following a national search. The appointment is a homecoming of sorts. Dr. Ponsky completed his surgical training at UHC in 1976 and then was a member of the School of Medicine/UHC surgery faculty for three years until becoming director of the Department of Surgery at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Cleveland in 1979. He remained there until 1997, and during that time, he was professor of surgery and vice chairman of the Department of Surgery at the School of Medicine. Dr. Ponsky then joined the Cleveland Clinic Foundation as director of endoscopic surgery and also was the first executive director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center there. Hewas vice chair of the division of education and director of graduate medical education at the Clinic, too. Dr. Ponsky had been a professor of surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He also had served as a member of the Clinic’s board of governors. As the co-developer of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), a non-invasive surgical procedure to insert a feeding tube into the stomach, Dr. Ponsky was called on by the media frequently as they were covering the Terry Schiavo case. His wife, Jackie, is a counselor, and his four children include Lee, a urologist at the Clinic; Todd, a general surgery resident at George Washington University School of Medicine; Zachary, a real estate investment manager, and Kimberly, who is pursuing a career in professional photography. Lee is a 1997 alumnus of the School of Medicine, and Todd is a 1999 alumnus. 1974 Gordon Hughes was appointed a professor of surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, effective July 21, 2004. Lonnie Marsh II writes that his son, Lonnie Trenton Marsh, made history on May 16, 2004, at George Washington University (GWU) when he became the first African-American male student to be chosen to give the overall university student commencement address there. He had received his master’s degree the day before and in 2002 had received his undergraduate degree in business administration and corporate affairs. His son is now working as a consultant to IBM in the Washington, D.C., area. Lonnie’s oldest daughter, Lindsay Sea Marsh, M.D., followed her father’s footsteps into medicine and is a resident in anesthesiology at GWU, where she graduated from medical school in 2002. Middle daughter Whitney Brooke Marsh-Tarvar is a teacher in Prince George’s county, married with two children. They all love D.C. and expect Lonnie and his wife, Vivian, to move there as well. “Who knows – we just might (smile),” he writes. 1975 James Becker of Weston, Mass., recently was named one of “America’s Top Doctors” by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. He is chair and professor of surgery at Boston University School of Medicine and was named 2004 Humanitarian of the Year by the New England Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. He is internationally known for his clinical and research work in inflammatory bowel disease and has been instrumental in refining and modifying the pull-through, a procedure to treat ulcerative colitis and familial polyposis. Donald Underwood was appointed an associate professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, effective Feb. 5. 1976 Alan Schwartz is pediatrician-in-chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, which Child magazine has named to its list of the top 10 children’s hospitals in the country, for the second consecutive time. The hospital was ranked 10th overall, third in emergency medicine and ninth in cardiac care. He also is the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics, and a professor of molecular biology and pharmacology, at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. 1977 Deborah Hyde was featured in an advertisement for the Lincoln LS automobile in the opening spread of the Jan. 30 issue of the New York Times Magazine. The two-page ad, complete with scans of the brain and photos of the interior and exterior of the vehicle, as well as a photo of Dr. Hyde, used analogies related to the brain to present the car’s features and a driver’s (Dr. Hyde’s) thoughts about them. 1979 Steven Altschuler is president and CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which for the third consecutive time was rated the best pediatric hospital in the country by Child magazine in its February issue. The magazine also ranked CHOP tops in cardiac care, cancer care, neonatal care, and orthopedic care, and fourth-best in emergency medicine. Helen Hobbs of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, returned to her alma mater March 10 as the guest speaker during the medical school’s Irwin H. Lepow Medical Student Research Day. In a talk titled “Genetic Protection against Cholesterol Accumulation and Atherosclerosis,” she spoke of her research defining the genetic determinants of plasma cholesterol levels, with an emphasis on the atherogenic lipoproteins and lipid transport. The annual event, named in honor of a 1958 alumnus, celebrates research done by School of Medicine students. The 2004 speaker was David Scadden ’80. 1980 Joseph Frolkis and Beth Overmoyer ’86 have moved from Cleveland to Kent, Conn. They both are working at New Milford Hospital, New Milford, Conn., an academic affiliate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is medical director of preventive cardiology at the New Milford – New York Presbyterian Regional Heart Center, and she is part of the regional cancer center. She also is part of Northwestern Connecticut Oncology and Hematology Associates. Emmanuel Tuffuor has founded Health, Wellness and Happiness: The African-American Health Newsletter. The publication, printed on newsprint, currently is distributed at no charge in East Cleveland, Ohio, and Dr. Tuffuor said he hopes circulation will expand to include inner-city areas on both the east and west side of Cleveland. Dr. Tuffuor said he started the publication with the goals of raising awareness of health issues and promoting preventive health care in poorer sections of Cleveland. He said he wants to empower the residents to form relationships with their physicians so that they do not rely on emergency medical care. The newsletter is a bi-monthly publication of the Glenville Health Foundation, which Dr. Tuffuor established to draw physicians to underserved areas. The third issue was published in the spring with funding from Dr. Tuffuor. He said he hopes that advertising will support it soon. Dr. Tuffuor has practiced internal medicine in East Cleveland for more than 20 years and also has an office in Warrensville Heights. 1981 Brian Bolwell was appointed a professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, effective Nov. 17. Stephen Paridon was among the “Great Docs for Kids” named in the December issue of Main Line Today magazine. Dr. Paridon, who was listed in the cardiology category, is the director of the exercise physiology laboratory and an attending cardiologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 1982 Robert Ronis has been serving as acting chair of the Case Western Reserve University / University Hospitals of Cleveland Department of Psychiatry since mid February, while a national search is conducted for a permanent chair. Dr. Ronis remains vice chair for education in the department and is the first person to hold the L. Douglas Lenkoski, M.D., Professorship. Michele Walsh is the medical director of Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. The Cleveland hospital was rated the fifth best children’s hospital in the country and the second best in neonatal care in Child magazine’s February issue. She also is a professor of pediatrics at her medical school alma mater. 1983 
William Hueston ’83
William Hueston of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., was installed as president-elect of the 1,325-member South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians at the group’s annual scientific assembly in November. In this capacity, he will help guide the work of the academy and will be installed as president in November. 1984 Matt Berchuck summarized the 2004 reunion gathering with the following: “A grand time was had by visiting alumni Matthew Berchuck, Christopher Brandt, Laura DiGiovanni, Gulchin Ergun, Eva Komoroski, Alexander Kondow, Suzanne Lorenz, Joshua Rubenstein, Beth Sersig, Sally Sharp, Thomas Woo and several spouses. We toasted each other and our classmates and enjoyed a great weekend at the occasion of our 20-year medical school graduation reunion.” Additional news about classmates: Matt Berchuck lives in Birmingham, Ala., with his wife, Esra, and their three children. Matt practices spine orthopedics. Chris Brandt and Beth Sersig live in Cleveland Heights with their children, Anna, Eric and Andrew. They continue to try to balance professional life with the kids’ and their personal academics, sports and music activities. Anna headed off to college in the fall. Chris continues on the Case Western Reserve University surgery faculty as a general surgeon at MetroHealth Medical Center, with many teaching and committee commitments. Beth works part-time at the university’s Student Health Center. Beth has enjoyed seeing Sue Gifford at Cleveland Heights versus Shaker Heights soccer and lacrosse matches, where their two oldest daughters have played against each other. Sue and Beth could not make the Friday night reunion dinner because each lacrosse team was playing state semi-finals in Columbus that day. Shaker advanced to the finals the next day, keeping Sue away from the Saturday dinner. The team finished state runner-up. Sue and her husband, Marty Pollock, live in Shaker Heights with their three daughters. Sue practices occupational medicine at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Antonio Cooper is an anesthesiologist at Huron Hospital in Cleveland, affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic. Laura DiGiovanni and husband, Daniel Garvey, are happily settled in Chicago, where she practices maternal fetal medicine at the University of Chicago. They have three children, Sarah, Katherine and Matthew. Karen Gerken writes, “I was sorry to have missed the reunion but was caught up in my daughter Nicky’s high school graduation that weekend. …I am still practicing pathology at Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, as I have been since 1989; Tom is still at Case Western Reserve University doing biochemistry sorts of research, and the kids grow ever older.” Daughter Nicola started at the University of Rochester in the fall, and son Will began his junior year in high school. Edmund Higgins of Sullivans Island, S.C., has launched a Web site that explores the criminal justice system, namely persons convicted of crime and later found not guilty. “I began compiling a database in 1997,” he said. “This database now contains 360 people who were innocent yet convicted of crime; some were sentenced to death.” Dr. Higgins said he launched the database to help diagnose illness and treat patients but also to help prevent errors in the criminal justice system. For details, visit http://www.dredmundhiggins.com. Heather Ways writes that she has been participating in the depressive part of a health collaborative that is “an exciting national project for community health centers. It has renewed my interest in both!” 1985 
Bernadette Loftus ’85
Bernadette Loftus, as physician-in-charge of the Kaiser-Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, helped plan a new 52-acre campus that will nearly double the size of the California facility. The $375 million project includes a 327-bed, 710,000 gross square-foot hospital; a four-story, 520,000 gross-square-foot medical building; a 17,000 gross-square-foot cancer center; and two parking structures. The medical office building opened in June, with the cancer center opening in early 2006 and the hospital opening in mid 2007. It’s the largest construction project in the history of Santa Clara County and Kaiser Permanente and is the first U.S. hospital to use an “unbonded, brace-frame system” to withstand earthquakes. Eric JB Shapiro has joined Gastroenterology Associates of Cleveland, Inc., as a staff physician. 1986 Beth Overmoyer (please see the notes for 1980). Warren Rose was featured in the cover story of the January-February issue of the Akron/Canton edition of M.D. News. He is a general surgeon who chairs the Department of Surgery at Medina General Hospital and is one of the first surgeons in Northeast Ohio to perform hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) of the colon. 1990 William Newman has opened a practice, Allergy & Asthma Specialists of Northern Vermont, and has joined the medical staff of Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans. For the past three years, he had been working at a U.S. Army hospital in Wuerzburg, Germany, fulfilling an obligation that came with a fellowship in allergy/immunology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which he had begun in 2000. Michael Oefelein has joined Spokane Urology in Spokane, Wash. 1992 
Dave McKenna ’92 and Dave Bourassa ’93
Dave McKenna and Dave Bourassa ’93 unexpectedly met at the airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in January. They were part of a medical brigade to Santa Lucia, Honduras, sponsored by the organization Shoulder to Shoulder. Dr. McKenna is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist with the Mountain Area Health Education Center in Asheville, N.C., and Dr. Bourassa is a pediatrician and medical director of the Thundermist Clinic in Woonsocket, R.I. They were able to collaborate on the care of two mother/baby pairs and shared a harrowing ride in an ambulance transporting a pregnant woman with eclampsia. 1993 Dave Bourassa (please see the notes for 1992). 1994 Jacqueline Gerardi Brunetto has been happily married to Charlie Brunetto since Nov. 1, 2003, and is working in private practice (general pediatrics) in Ocean, N.J. She writes that she “loves being so close to the beach!” 
Among those marking the grand opening of Primrose School of Legacy in Omaha with a Feb. 5 ribbon cutting are, from left, Ajoy Jana ’94, Ryan Jana, Laura Jana ’94, Bethany Jana, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, Alex Jana, Congressman Lee Terry and Primrose Schools Franchising Co. President and CEO Jo Kirchner. The 1994 alumni own the school.
Laura and Ajoy Jana celebrated the grand opening of their Primrose School of Legacy, a private, accredited, educational preschool and child care facility, in Omaha, Neb., on Feb. 5. Attending the ribbon-cutting were family, friends, staff, the mayor of Omaha, a congressman, and former University of Nebraska football quarterbacks Eric Crouch and McCathorn Clayton, as well as the president and CEO of Atlanta-based Primrose School Franchising Co. The Janas moved to Omaha from Denver in late 2002; their three children, Bethany, Alex and Ryan, had attended a Primrose School in Colorado. Laura is a board-certified pediatrician with Physicians Clinic Pediatrics - Regency; a regional trainer and medical director for Reach Out and Read, a nationally recognized early childhood literacy organization; and a member of the Nebraska Child Passenger Safety Board. She also is a state and national representative on early education and care for the American Academy of Pediatrics. In Omaha, she is a regularly featured parenting expert on a radio morning show and on a local TV station. Ajoy is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with Physicians Clinic Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, where he specializes in joint replacement. For more information, see http://www.myprimroseschool.com/legacy. M. Norman Oliver and colleagues published a paper on treating panic disorder in the Feb. 21 issue of American Family Physician. He is associate dean for diversity and assistant professor of family medicine, health evaluation sciences and anthropology at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. He also directs the university’s Center for Improving Minority Health. 1995 Michelle Garnett has joined the medical staff of Obici Hospital, Suffolk, Va., as a radiologist with Suffolk Radiology Associates. 
1995 alumnus Fr./Dr. Frank Klamet, left, accepts a plaque from medical student Baran Onder, representing the student body that nominated the graduate for the AAMC’s Humanism in Medicine Award.
Frank Klamet was honored by his alma mater, where he is a senior clinical instructor of family medicine, as its 2004 nominee for the Association of American Medical Colleges Humanism in Medicine Award on April 13. He practices family medicine in Washington Court House, Ohio; he also is a Roman Catholic priest. Fr./Dr. Klamet and 63 other medical school faculty members from schools across the country were nominated for the award in 2004 by the student bodies of their schools. A Nov. 8 full-page ad in USA Today featured the names and institutional affiliations of the award winner and all finalists. Sabitha Rajan has been named to the assistant attending medical staff at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut, in the Department of Medicine’s general medicine section. She practices with Greenwich IM Hospitalist Services, Inc. 1996 Kristie Richards writes that she and husband, Peter Weinberg, were married in December 2000 and had a baby boy, Jack Richards Weinberg, on March 1, 2003. His baby brother, Ryan Richards Weinberg, was born Sept. 24, 2004. 1997 Lee Ponsky was featured in a 28-minute documentary, “Wish for a Forgotten Country,” shown in the shorts program at the Cleveland International Film Festival in March. The film highlights the impact of MedWish International (formerly InterVol), an organization founded and presided over by Dr. Ponsky to address the shortage of medical supplies and equipment in developing countries. The film, documenting a trip to Honduras to deliver surplus supplies (otherwise headed for landfills) donated to MedWish in the United States, was written and directed by an executive producer with the Cleveland Clinic News Service who is a member of MedWish’s board of directors. Dr. Ponsky is a urologist at the Clinic. His father, Jeffrey Ponsky ’71, also appeared in the film. 1998 
Rita Beckford has produced a new DVD, “Home with Dr. B,” to help people improve their health. Informed by Dr. Beckford’s loss of 80 pounds, the DVD includes a warm-up, 10- and 20-minute cardiovascular workouts, and a cool down, as well as tips on healthful eating, relaxation and weight loss. The DVD can be ordered at http://www.homewithdrb.com. In addition to being a medical doctor, Dr. Beckford is a double-certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor and a member of the American Council on Exercise. She and her husband, Ian Beckford ’98, live in Aurora, Ohio, with their son, Kenneth. Her newest hobby is creative writing, and she plans topublish a novel soon. 2000 Ryan Cmejrek has completed his residency through Case Western Reserve University and has joined Southlake Ear, Nose and Throat in Merrillville, Ind. 2001 Richard A. Del Rio earned a master of science degree through the Clinical Research Scholars Program at Case Western Reserve University in January. Lance Kugler and his wife, Traci, welcomed son Alexander into the world in August 2004. He joined sister Lauren, who was born in 2002. The Kuglers live in Omaha, Neb., where Lance has joined a private practice after finishing his ophthalmology residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Blake Ohlson writes, “I’m in my fourth year of orthopedic surgery residency in Kalamazoo, Mich. I got married in 2003 to my girlfriend, Melissa, whom I met at Case. I just accepted a fellowship in foot and ankle surgery at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, to begin following residency.” He and another orthopedics resident formed a two-man rock band called Talus, recently cut a rock CD, and performed live around town this summer when not on call. |
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