Winter 2008

In Memoriam

Alumni News accepts and publishes obituaries of Medical College of Wisconsin, Marquette School of Medicine, and Marquette University School of Medicine alumni. If you have information about the death of a classmate, please mail, fax or e-mail the appropriate information to the Office of Alumni Relations.

Edmund J. Schmidt, MD ’40, of Alexandria, Va., died May 4, 2007. He was 92 years old. From 1972 until his retirement in 1983, Dr. Schmidt was a physician at the student health center at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va. Prior to that, he practiced family medicine in Wauwatosa and Milwaukee for three decades, serving on the staffs of Deaconess Hospital (President of Staff, 1964-66) and Lutheran Hospital. He served as an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service during World War II. Dr. Schmidt was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Barbara Wickham Schmidt. His survivors include two sons, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Leonard Gorenstein, MD ’42, of Fox Point, Wis., died Sept. 29, 2007. A pediatrician in the Milwaukee area, he was 90 years old. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ann. His survivors include one son, one daughter and two grandchildren.

Francis J. Millen, MD ’42, of Bayside, Wis., died Sept. 21, 2007. He was 91 years old. Dr. Millen specialized in neurology, psychiatry and electroencephalography. He was a pioneer in the field of electroencephalography, creating EEG laboratories in many Milwaukee hospitals and the Howard Young Medical Center in Woodruff, Wis. Dr. Millen was Past President of the Milwaukee Neuropsychiatric Society and charter member and Past President of the American Medical EEG Society. He was Professor Emeritus of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. During World War II, Dr. Millen served in the U.S. Navy. He enjoyed fishing, TV westerns, New Orleans jazz, dancing the north woods. He was preceded in death by a daughter. His survivors include his wife of 64 years, Grace; two sons; five daughters; and 12 grandchildren.

Howard V. Morter, MD ’42, GME ’49, of Blairsville, Ga., died Sept. 29, 2007. He was 91 years old. A native Milwaukeean, Dr. Morter practiced Otolaryngology in Milwaukee until his retirement in 1975. He was on the staffs of Columbia Hospital, Milwaukee County Hospital and Milwaukee Children’s Hospital. He was a former president of the Milwaukee Oto-Ophthalmic Society, Otolaryngology Section Chief at Columbia Hospital and a member of the Wisconsin Medical Society. He was a Member of Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity and Phi Chi medical fraternity, the American Legion, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Among his civic activities, Dr. Morter was a member of the Milwaukee Kiwanis and Milwaukee Yacht Club and its Ensign Fleet. He was a captain in the Army Medical Corps in WWII where he was the Commanding Officer of the 505th Medical Hospital Ship Platoon which cared for the wounded returning to the U.S. on transports and served in hospitals in Espirito Santo, New Hebrides and New Guinea between four trips across the Pacific Ocean. The 505th was then transferred to the East Coast and crossed the Atlantic eight times between England and the U.S. His survivors include his wife, Ruth; three sons; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

William J. Allison, MD ’43, of Springfield, Ohio, died April 12, 2007. He was 92 years old. Dr. Allison served as flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s. He began a practice in Springfield in general medicine and anesthesiology. Following some additional training in Florida, Dr. Allison returned to Springfield, where he practiced at Mercy Medical Center for 24 years before retiring in 1984. He was active in many civic and community organizations including the Kiwanis Club, Boy Scouts of America, Free & Accepted Masons, Scottish Rite Valley of Dayton and numerous medical organizations. His survivors include his wife of 66 years, Mary R. “Becky” Allison; one son; three daughters; 11 grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren.

William W. Chandler, MD ’46 (March), of Appleton, Wis., died Nov. 20, 2007. He was 84 years old. During college and medical school, he played for the Marquette University basketball team for five years and was the only player elected captain for three years. He was the first-ever recipient of the Robert McCahill Award, the highest honor for a MU student given for athletic ability, scholarship and leadership. Dr. Chandler served two years in the U.S. Navy before starting a general medical practice in Wauwatosa, Wis. After further training, he began a surgical practice in Appleton in 1955 and went on to co-found Fox Valley Surgical Associates. He remained with that medical group until retirement in 1989. Dr. Chandler was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the Wisconsin Surgical Society. He was active in the Outagamie County Medical Society, President of the Appleton Medical Center Hospital Board, President of the joint medical staffs of AMC and St. Elizabeth Hospital and a trustee of NOVUS. He served on the boards of the Outagamie Cancer Society, the United Way and the YMCA. While YMCA board president, he was named Volunteer of the Year in 2005. He was a 50-year member of the First Congregational Church and founding member of the Board of the Community Foundation in Appleton. After his retirement, he continued volunteering with the Red Cross, the Appleton Library Board and the Reading for Success program. The Downtown Rotary Club honored him with the Heeter-Paul Harris Fellowship Award, and he and his wife were awarded Outstanding Volunteers of the Year by the Red Cross in 2003 and given the Paul and Elaine Groth Mentoring Award in 2005 for meaningful contributions to the quality of life in the Fox Cities. Dr. Chandler’s survivors include his wife of 52 years, Paula; four daughters; and 13 grandchildren.

Frederic G. Maurer, Jr., MD ‘46 (March), of Louisville, Ky., died April 29, 2007. He was 85 years old and a longtime resident of Lima, Ohio, and Scottsdale, Ariz. Dr. Maurer was an obstetrician and gynecologist who practiced in Lima from 1952 until his retirement in 1987. He was active on the staffs of St. Rita’s Medical Center and Lima Memorial Hospital. A World War II veteran, Dr. Maurer served as an anesthesiologist at Wright Patterson Air Force Base before his Army discharge. He was a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a member of the American Medical Association, Ohio State Medical Association, St. Charles Catholic Church and the Elks. He was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret. His survivors include five sons and two grandchildren.

William C. Curtis, MD ’47, of Elm Grove, died Dec. 21, 2007. He was 82 years old. A lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Dr. Curtis served two tours of duty as a Naval Medical Officer. He practiced general medicine in Wauwatosa from 1949 to 1975. He was a past president of the Medical Society of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Academy of General Practitioners. He served his alma mater as President of the (Medical College of Wisconsin/)Marquette Medical School Alumni Association and chaired the fund-raising effort related to the Medical College’s separation from Marquette University. Dr. Curtis was a volunteer clinical faculty member and Walter Zeit Fellow at the Medical College, where he also served on the CME Committee for Senior Physicians until the time of his death. From 1962 to 1971, Dr. Curtis was Medical Chief of Staff of Misericordia Hospital and Elmbrook Memorial Hospital. He was a driving force in the development and construction of Elmbrook. He also initiated the first civilian medical helicopter transport in Wisconsin in 1970, the predecessor to Flight for Life. From 1975-1989, Dr. Curtis served as Corporate Medical Director of Briggs & Stratton Corp. After his retirement, he continued to work as a part-time occupational health physician, continuing his career-long interest in occupational medicine and worker’s compensation insurance. At the time of his death, Dr. Curtis was writing the history of Elmbrook Memorial Hospital. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary Beth. His survivors include his wife, Helen; seven children; four step-children; and nine grandchildren.

Robert Jerome Becker, MD ’49, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., died Nov. 3, 2007. He was 85 years old. Dr. Becker was a veteran of the U.S. Army, an accomplished physician and entrepreneur and a benefactor to many. He served two tours of duty in the military, as an enlisted man in 1946 and as a captain in the medical crops stationed in Germany in 1955. Dr. Becker maintained a private allergy practice in Joliet, Ill., for 25 years. He founded the Joint Council of Allergy and Immunology and the Quad River Medical Foundation. He served on the board of the National Association of Peer Review Organizations and the Illinois State Medical Society. In 1982, he founded a utilization review company called Health Care COMPARE. The organization has since expanded and evolved (under the name First Health since 1998) to become a unique national managed health care company. A gift from First Health established the Robert and June Becker Health Policy Lecture at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The 10th annual lecture will take place this year. The event honors Dr. Becker for his pioneering achievements in the areas of quality assurance, cost containment and health care utilization management. Dr. Becker’s survivors include his wife, June; two sons; one daughter; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

William C. Woods, MD ’52, of Delavan, Wis., died Oct. 14, 2007, after a long illness. He was a surgeon and family doctor to many in the Delavan area. His survivors include his wife, Esther.

William D. Evangelatos, MD ’54, of Glendale, Calif., died June 7, 2007. He was 83 years old.

Kenneth J. Urlakis, MD ’58, GME ’62, of Wauwatosa, Wis., died Sept. 26, 2007. He was 74 years old. In more than 40 years as an OB/GYN on staff at St. Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee, Dr. Urlakis delivered more than 8,000 babies. He was known for his sense of humor and love of food. His survivors include his wife of 47 years, Mary; three sons (including Kenneth J. Urlakis, Jr., MD ’94, PhD ’91, GME ’97); three daughters; and 16 grandchildren.

Mark J. Halloran, MD ’59, of Ladue, Mo., died June 10, 2007. He was 76 years old. An internist in St. Louis, Dr. Halloran had served two years in the National Guard in the Korean War before obtaining his medical degree. He began his private practice at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur, where he also served on the staff. In the 1970s, Dr. Halloran was President of the Midwest chapter of the St. Louis Blood Bank Center. In 1994, he traveled with a group of international doctors to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to treat refugees of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. His survivors include his wife, Jane Lamy Gunter Halloran; one son; three daughters; 13 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

Michael E. Peter, MD ’68, of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., died May 29, 2007. A surgeon, he was 64 years old.

Carl J. Saggio, MD ’68, of Fund du Lac, Wis., died Nov. 24, 2007. He was 65 years old and a family practitioner. His survivors include his wife of 41 years, Nancy; one son; one daughter; and two grandchildren.

Glenn L. Mohler, MD ’73, of Centerburg, Ohio, died April 16, 2007. He was 65 years old. Dr. Mohler practiced family medicine for 14 years in Columbus, Ohio, before serving as Medical Director of the Ohio State Highway Patrol for 14 more years. He retired in 2005 and was a member of the American Medical Association and Ohio State Medical Association. His survivors include his wife, Sarah, to whom he was married in 1997.

Daniel A. Eimermann, MD ’78, of Madison, Wis., died Sept. 15, 2007, while participating in a triathlon at Devil’s Lake State Park. He was 55 years old. He served as a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve in San Diego, Calif., before beginning his private psychiatry practice in the mid-1980s with Psychiatric Services in Madison. His survivors include his wife, Molly, and two daughters.

Guy S. Schuelke, PhD, MS ’78, of Elcho, Wis., died from liver failure Oct. 26, 2007. He was 55 years old. After earning his master’s degree in pathology from the Medical College, he completed a PhD program in microbiology/immunology at Creighton University. He was a research scientist for 15 years. Dr. Schuelke’s survivors include his wife of 16 years, Beth.

Elaine M. Liverman, MD ’96, of New Berlin, Wis., died Dec. 9, 2007. She was 38 years old. An obstetrician/gynecologist, Dr. Liverman practiced and delivered babies at West Allis Memorial Hospital, Burlington Memorial Hospital and most recently, Waukesha Memorial Hospital, all in the Milwaukee area. Her survivors include her husband, Andrew; one son; and two daughters.