Volume 18 Number 1 Winter/Spring 2001

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Obituaries

* Distinguished physician and past president of the California Medical Association, THOMAS N. ELMENDORF, MD, School of Medicine alumnus, class of 1945, died June 30, 2000, at the UC-Davis Medical Center after a short illness. He was 80.

Elmendorf received the J.E. Wallace Sterling Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award in 1998. The annual Stanford Medical Alumni Association award recognizes "exceptional lifetime achievement" in medicine.

Elmendorf received his undergraduate degree from UC-Berkeley. He served in the U.S. Navy and the Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of commander. He maintained a general practice in Willows, Calif., for 24 years. He was a partner with the Emergency Physicians Medical Group in Sacramento and medical director for Electronic Data Systems when the company first came to California.

He held numerous leadership posts, including serving for many years as the Northern California delegate to the American Medical Association. He still worked as a full-time physician in the emergency room at Mercy San Juan Hospital in Sacramento when he became ill.

Donations may be made to the Yolo County (Calif.) Hospice.

* Radiation oncologist and dedicated Stanford School of Medicine alumnus, H. ANTHONY ENGELBRECHT, MD, class of 1962, died May 25, 2000, at the age of 64.

Engelbrecht's devotion and commitment to Stanford were demonstrated by his many years of active service, including serving on the clinical faculty and as council member and chair (1978-82) of the Stanford Medical Fund, and as a longtime member of the board of governors of the Stanford Medical Alumni Association and president (1996-97) of SMAA.

After completing his medical degree and an internship, Engelbrecht, a native of Tacoma, Wash., and graduate of St. Louis University, served in the U.S. Navy as a battalion surgeon to the 3rd Marine Division in southeast Asia. He returned to Stanford in 1965 as a resident in radiation therapy after which he traveled to India on a postdoctoral clinical research fellowship co-sponsored by Stanford and the National Institutes of Health.

Engelbrecht directed radiation oncology at Summit Medical Center in Oakland beginning in 1970 and held leadership posts in many professional organizations, including the Northern California Radiation Oncology Association, the Merritt-Peralta Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Stanford Medical Fund, c/o Andrew Cope, 770 Welch Road, Suite 400, Palo Alto, CA 94304.

* Alumnus of the School of Medicine, class of 1980, DAVID J. SARTORIS, MD, a recognized expert on the diagnosis of osteoporosis, died June 17, 2000, at the age of 44.

Sartoris, a radiologist, completed his undergraduate degree, his medical degree, an internship and a residency at Stanford. He joined UC-San Diego in 1984 as a fellow in the musculoskeletal section of the radiology department and became an attending physician at UCSD a year later.

In 1987 Sartoris was chief operator of one of only three new scanning devices in the United States designed for diagnosing osteoporosis. In 1988 he was elected to the International Skeletal Society.

His work in the field of bone density imaging earned him an international reputation among colleagues and he has been described as a consummate teacher and compassionate physician. He was an active patient advocate and campaigner in the effort to educate the public about bone health and the prevention of bone loss. San Diego State University posthumously awarded Sartoris an MPH degree.

Donations may be made to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

* Research dermatologist JULIUS R. SCHOLTZ, MD, Stanford University (class of 1930) and School of Medicine (class of 1934), died Jan. 25, 2000, from complications of pneumonia. He was 91.

Scholtz developed a treatment for atopic dermatitis and advanced the use of modern dermatologic steroid therapy. He consulted on dermatology and syphilology for the California Department of Health and during World War II served in the Air Surgeon's office in the Pentagon as chief of dermatology and syphilology.

After the war, Scholtz went into private practice in Pasadena and resumed his association with USC and the LA County Medical Center, which had begun during his years of training. His post-war work included serving as initial director of the Division of Graduate Medicine, clinical professor of medicine (dermatology) and chair of the dermatology section.

After many years in Southern California, Scholtz returned to Palo Alto in 1970 as a consultant for Syntex Laboratories until his retirement in 1989. He also consulted in dermatology for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Stanford's student health center. Also, he became active at Stanford as a patron of the Music Guild, Library Associates and the Museum of Art.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the music department at Stanford University, Braun Music Center, Stanford, CA, 94305-3076.

* Stanford medical alumnus, class of 1944A, LOWELL STEEL, MD, died Oct. 1, 2000, at the age of 83. He practiced with the Chico (Calif.) Medical Group and served as president of the California Thoracic Society and associate professor of medicine and pulmonary diseases at UC-Davis Medical School.