In Memoriam

The office of alumni affairs at the School of Medicine has received notification of the deaths of the following alumni.  On behalf of the university community, we extend sincere sympathy to family and friends.

Norman Payea, MD, ‘52
Edward Turner, MD, ‘55
Lawrence Sheppard, MD, ’63
Robert Gardner, MD, ‘71

Frank Walker, MD, died in March at the age of 68. A graduate of the WSU School of Medicine in 1955, he would have celebrated his 45^th class reunion this year. Dr. Walker was a clinical faculty member from 1962-96. He had served as president of the alumni association, was a class agent, and continued to be extremely supportive of the medical school and the alumni association throughout his career. In 1990, Dr. Walker received WSU’s Distinguished Service Award, one of the school’s highest honors.

Dr. Walker earned a bachelor’s degree from Union College in New York in 1951, a medical degree in 1955 and a doctorate in 1962, both from Wayne State University. He interned at Detroit Memorial Hospital from 1955-56, was a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1956-58, and was a resident in pathology in the WSU and Affiliated Hospitals program from 1958-62. He was certified by the American Board of Pathology in 1962.

Dr. Walker was in private practice from 1962-94 and served as associate director of laboratories at Detroit Memorial, Jennings Memorial, Alexander Blain, Macomb and Cottage Hospitals. In recognition of his outstanding accomplishments, he was honored with the Joint Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and College of American Pathologists in 1989.

Dr. Walker has been extremely active in organized medicine and has served as past president of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, Detroit Academy of Medicine, Wayne County Medical Society, Michigan Society of Pathologists, and the  Michigan Association of Blood Banks. He was also a past member and chairman of the Michigan State Medical Society Board of Directors, a delegate from Michigan to the American Medical Association (AMA), past member and chair of the AMA Council on Long Range Planning and Development, and a trustee of the AMA.

Dr. Walker is survived by his wife, four daughters, three sons, and 13 grandchildren.