In Memoriam

Charles A. Bailey, M.D., HS ’51, died on December 25 in Coronado, Calif. He was 93. Born in Rutherford, N.J., Bailey worked in drug research for Lederle Laboratories in New Jersey before entering medical school at Cornell University. His medical studies were interrupted by service in the U.S. Navy, where he did research in infectious diseases and contributed to reducing mortality from typhus. He was also a member of the research team studying the Rh factor, which led to the listing of blood types on soldiers’ dog tags—invaluable information for combat medics. After his residency at Yale, Bailey practiced internal medicine and cardiology in Ridgewood, N.J., until his retirement in 1980.

Diana S. Beardsley, M.D., Ph.D., FW ’76, associate professor in the Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, died on March 30 after a brief illness. She was 62. A member of the faculty since 1986, Beardsley built a nationally recognized program in coagulopathies and platelet disorders. She was one of the first scientists to apply modern techniques of immunobiology and molecular biology toward furthering the understanding of immune-mediated platelet destruction syndromes. Born in Curtiss, Wis., Beardsley received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Valparaiso University in 1969, her Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Princeton in 1976, and her M.D. from Duke, also in 1976. She was a hematology research fellow at Yale in 1975–76 before interning in medicine at Children’s Hospital in Boston, where she completed her residency. Her residency was followed by a three-year fellowship in pediatric hematology and oncology at Harvard Medical School, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Children’s Hospital from 1978 to 1981.

Albert H. Dolinsky, M.D., HS ’54, died on February 13 of multiple illnesses in North Haven, Conn. He was 92. Born in Winsted, Conn., he became a captain in the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941. He received his medical degree from New York Medical College in 1951. Dolinsky maintained a private practice in internal medicine in New Haven for 30 years and was an attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of St. Raphael.

Ira W. Gabrielson, M.D., HS ’53, M.P.H., died on January 18 in Williamsburg, Mass. He was 87. Gabrielson was chair of the department of community and preventive medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania (MCP) when he retired in 1989. He spent his career teaching in the Yale School of Public Health, the University of California at Berkeley, and MCP.

Frank L. Golbranson, M.D. ’47, died on January 10 in La Jolla, Calif. He was 88. Golbranson, an orthopaedic surgeon, entered medical school as a Navy cadet and served in the Naval Hospital in Oakland, Calif. After leaving the Navy, he became a clinical assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego, and chief of rehabilitation medicine at the VA in La Jolla. He was instrumental in improving recovery from leg amputation for soldiers returning from Korea and Vietnam, and his research helped improve the lives of patients with diabetes and bionic artificial limbs.

Benjamin A. Johnson, M.D. ’49, M.P.H., died of cancer on February 22 in Jacksonville, Fla. He was 87. Born in Jacksonville, Johnson served in the Armed Forces during the Korean conflict and was awarded a Bronze Star and the Air Medal. After training in pediatric allergy, he received a public health degree and served in local and state government.

John W. Kreider, M.D., HS ’64, died on January 29 of complications related to kidney failure in Palmyra, Penn. He was 72. Born in Moorestown, N.J., Kreider graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and served for more than 25 years as a professor of pathology and microbiology at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Penn. He was a founding member of the Jake Gittlen Cancer Research Institute and served as its director. He specialized in the study of human papilloma virus (HPV) and contributed to the development of Gardasil, an anti-HPV vaccine.

Robert T. McSherry, M.D. ’50, died on January 10 in Landrum, S.C., of heart failure. He was 90. McSherry had a long career in the Philadelphia area as an anesthesiologist. During World War II he was a Navy corpsman with the Marines and saw combat action on Guadalcanal and Bougainville islands.

Robert F. Newton, M.D. ’47, died on January 30 in Guilford, Conn. He was 87. Newton served in the U.S. Army and received an honorable discharge as a lieutenant colonel. He opened a pediatric practice in Hamden, Conn., in 1951, and served as director of public health for the town as well.

Martin F. Randolph, M.D., died on March 3 in Danbury, Conn. He was 92. A prominent physician in Danbury for nearly 50 years, Randolph was a member of the clinical faculty at Yale from 1949 to 1965. Randolph graduated from Michigan State University in 1939 and from the University of Rochester’s School of Medicine in 1943. He completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of Chicago in 1945. He interrupted his medical education to volunteer as a captain in the United States Medical Corps from 1945 to 1946.One of the first pediatricians in Danbury’s history, Randolph started his practice in 1948 and was active until 1997. While maintaining his practice, Randolph pursued his lifelong interest in medical research and writing. He was appointed associate professor of medicine by Yale University and served in that capacity for many years. He published 60 articles dealing with children’s illnesses and is internationally acclaimed for his pioneering research on streptococcus.

Joan Venes, M.D., FW ’68, HS ’72, the first woman accepted as a pediatric neurosurgeon at Yale, died on March 31 in Auburn, Calif. She was 74. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Venes originally intended to be a nurse. She worked as an emergency room nurse for several years after college before taking the courses that would prepare her for medical school. After receiving her medical degree from Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York, Venes began a surgical internship at Yale, eventually becoming the school’s first female neurosurgery resident following a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. William Collins. In 1972 she completed her residency in neurological surgery and won the McNeil Award in Surgery. She joined the faculty and stayed at Yale until 1978, when she joined a private practice in Dallas. In 1990, she was named professor of surgery (neurosurgery) at the University of Michigan. In 1993 she retired due to health reasons and settled in California.

Send obituary notices to Claire M. Bessinger, Yale Medicine Publications, 1 Church Street, Suite 300, New Haven, CT 06510, or via e-mail to claire.bessinger@yale.edu