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In Memoriam
Northwestern Medicine expresses its condolences to the families and friends of the following alumni (listed in order of their graduation year) and faculty who have passed away.
ALUMNI
John Allan Hamblin, ’54 DDS
August 20, 2025
Mesa, AZ
Harold S. Firfer, ’56 DDS
March 16, 2025
Lincolnshire, IL
Ronald D. Graber, ’56 MD
October 4, 2025
Goshen, IN
Donald M. Hopkins, ’56 MD
September 24, 2025
Sacramento, CA
John W. Pacey, ’56 DDS
August 1, 2025
Broomfield, CO
December 24, 2024
James R. Webster Jr., ’56 MD,’60 ’64 GME
June 25, 2025
Shelter Island, NY
Dyrel A. Faulstick, ’57 MD, ’59 ’62 GME
May 19, 2025
Round Mountain, NV
Michael A. Levine, ’57 MD
July 9, 2025
Houston, TX
Raymond E. Gills, ’58 MD
May 26, 2025
Anchorage, AK
David K. Criswell, ’59 MD
November 25, 2025
Naples, FL
Robert E. Linden, ’60 MD
November 17, 2025
Hernando, FL
Mototsugu M. Morita, ’60 DDS
September 9, 2025
Chicago, IL
Lindsay B. Smith, ’60 MD
August 4, 2025
Carbondale, IL
Lawrence H. Dublinski, ’61 BSTP
October 22, 2025
College Place, WA
Stanley Jacobson, ’61 MD, ’63 GME
July 7, 2025
Ashland, MA
Louis S. Robbins, ’61 MD
September 7, 2025
El Paso, TX
Lynn W. Boynton, ’62 MD
July 25, 2025
Fort Myers, FL
Donald M. Coder, ’62 MD
May 15, 2025
Fort Mill, SC
Jeanne C. Sinkford, ’62 DDS, ’63 PhD
October 1, 2025
Silver Spring, MD
George Byington “Bing” Pratt III, ’62 MD, ’63 GME
June 16, 2025
Indianapolis, IN
Clarence R. Woodbury, ’62 MD
July 28, 2025
Carmel, IN
Jerry J. Evans, ’63 MD
October 22, 2025
South Padre Island, TX
John N. Groper, ’63 DDS
May 29, 2025
Los Angeles, CA
Bruce A. Polender, ’63 MD
September 17, 2025
Onalaska, WI
Joseph S. Rowe Jr., ’66 MD
September 28, 2025
Macon, GA
Edward R. Thomas, MD, ’66 GME
August 22, 2025
Dayton, OH
William E. Reynolds, ’67 DDS
October 7, 2025
Schenectady, NY
Arnold E. Delbridge, ’68 MD,’75 GME
July 13, 2025
Waukee, IA
James R. Jaussi, ’68 MD
July 18, 2025
Richfield, UT
Dermot O’Connor, ’68 MD
July 29, 2025
St. Petersburg, FL
David C. Bartsch, ’69 MD
August 29, 2025
Rapid City, SD
Perry Scott Binder, ’69 MD
November 28, 2025
San Diego, CA
Erwin A. Stuebner Jr., ’70 MD
August 20, 2025
Pittsfield, MA
Randall T. Bellows, ’71 MD
July 12, 2025
Nashville, TN
Robert H. Earhart Jr., ’72 MD, ’75 PhD
May 29, 2025
Bainbridge Island, WA
Frank J. Wenzke ’72 MD
October 19, 2025
Dayton, OH
Terry Ebert, ’74 GME
November 14, 2025
Valparaiso, IN
R. Eric Hartvigsen, ’74 DDS
November 9, 2025
Tucson, AZ
Robert A. Narotzky, ’74 MD
June 28, 2025
Bozeman, MT
Ann Beecher ’75 MD
January 10, 2025
Milwaukee, WI
Jane Marie Marmet, ’76 MD
October 14, 2025
Glenview, IL
Carl A. Sferry, ’76 MD
April 4, 2025
Lyndhurst, OH
Thomas M. McGowan, MD, ’77 GME
May 22, 2025
Houston, TX
James L. Preston ’78 MD
March 2, 2025
Pickerington, OH
Stephen L. Scranton, ’78 MD, ’80 GME
November 10, 2025
Clearwater, FL
James M. Stone, ’78 MD
October 23, 2025
Redding, CA
Helen C. Kiefer, ’81 MD
July 20, 2025
Oak Park, IL
Mary Ann Carissimo, ’82 DDS
November 25, 2025
Windsor, NY
Sandor Shoichet, ’82 MD, ’82 GME
June 12, 2025
Royal Oak, MI
G. Jerel Wright ’82 DDS
September 24, 2025
Salt Lake City, UT
Robert C. Hsiung, ’84 MD
August 31, 2025
Noboribetsu City, Hokkaido, Japan
Shaun L.W. Samuels, ’87 MD
September 6, 2025
Miami, FL
Susan M. Balich, ’92 MD
July 26, 2025
Seattle, WA
Farra Fadia Kristine, ’93 DDS
July 15, 2025
Chicago, IL
Daniel Rataj, ’03 MD
August 20, 2025
Plymouth, MI
Karl F. Voegtlin, ’03 MD
August 10, 2025
Seattle, WA
Donald C. Gargas, ’68 MD
August 1, 2025
Seattle, WA
FACULTY
James R. Webster Jr. ’53, ’56 MD, MS, ’60 GME, ’64 GME
James R. Webster Jr. ’53, ’56 MD, MS, ’60 GME, ’64 GME, much admired pulmonologist, educator, and former director of the Feinberg School of Medicine Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics, passed away peacefully on June 25, 2025. He was 93.
An army veteran who achieved the rank of captain and received a commendation medal, Webster was born in Chicago on August 25, 1931. He graduated from the then Northwestern University Medical School in 1956, completing his residency at the former Chicago Wesley Memorial, now Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in 1960. Webster went on to serve in leadership roles at Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he became a leading practitioner of geriatric medicine.
From 1988 to 2000, Webster directed the Buehler Center on Aging, which is now the Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics, and throughout his career, he held key board positions across Northwestern’s health system and served as chief of medicine and chief of staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was also a longtime volunteer physician and donor at CommunityHealth, Chicago’s largest free clinic, and a passionate advocate for free healthcare. In addition, Webster spearheaded the initiative to eliminate smoking at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. In 2002, Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed him president of the Chicago Board of Health, during which time he was a major force behind the Smoke-Free Illinois Act of 2008, a statewide law prohibiting smoking in most enclosed public places and workplaces.
Webster’s interests included traveling and writing. He was an avid baseball enthusiast, who played catcher in college and was a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan. In 2000, Webster
published the medical fiction novel The Last Grasp: A Tale about a Medical Octopus and authored numerous research and opinion pieces.
Webster is survived by his brother, Stephen; his children, Susan and John; six grandchildren, Eliza, Adam, Ross, James, Anna, and Max; and one great grandchild, JT. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Joan Burchfield Webster, in 2010, and his son Donovan.
In October 2025, the James R. Webster Jr., MD Scholarship was established in his name.
