In Memoriam
Posted: January 28, 2011
ATSU pays tribute to the following graduates Joseph W. Stella, D.O. ’43 Former AOA President Joseph W. Stella, whose career spanned 60 years, died in May 2010 at his home in Whitehall, Pa. After graduating from ATSU-KCOM, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1943-46, a time when D.O.s were not accepted to serve as physicians. He then operated a family practice in Honolulu, Hawaii, where again he faced discrimination because of his D.O. status and was denied hospital privileges. He told The DO magazine in 1987, “You become very sensitive after a while to how people regard you as a doctor. If they get the idea that you are ‘kind of a doctor,’ that hurts like hell. That makes you mad, and that is what makes you want to fight.” In 1963, he joined the former Allentown Osteopathic Medical Center, where he had interned. Practicing there for three decades, Dr. Stella was founding director of the family medicine residency program, served as a trustee, and established pediatric and geriatric clinics at the hospital. In the late ’60s, Dr. Stella became involved in service to the profession, and in 1968 first served as a delegate in the AOA House of Delegates. He served on the AOA Board of Trustees for 12 years and received the AOA’s highest honor, in addition to a slew of awards and recognition for his service to patients and the profession. Dr. Stella is survived by his wife, Darlene, of 31 years, two sons, two daughters, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Sarkis Derderian, D.O., ’45 Sarkis Derderian, D.O., ’45, of Columbia, S.C., died March 8, 2009, in Grand Lake, Mich. He is survived by his wife, Helen, and three sons, Sarkis S. Derderian, D.O.; Greg Derderian, D.O.; and Paul Derderian, D.O. ’86; and 10 grandchildren. He is well known for operating on a small boy who swallowed an open knife and survived, but his legacy lies in his children, who followed in his footsteps, and one grandson, Christopher, who is completing a surgical residency at Emery University in Georgia. A well-liked and respected physician, Dr. Derderian trained countless surgeons at Flint Osteopathic Hospital in Flint, Mich., where he was instrumental in establishing a surgical training program, completed his own internship as a young man earning a mere $10 each month, and later served as chief of staff. He was married for 63 years and practiced medicine until an illness in 1983. 1940s Loyal McCandless Monroe, D.O., ’42, Ravenswood, W.Va. Dan Easton Berry, D.O., ’43, Fairmont, W.Va. Joseph W. Stella, D.O., ’43, Whitehall,Pa. Robert Eugene Harvey, D.O., ’44, Valparaiso, Ind. Andrew Taylor Still, D.O., ’44, Longton, Kan. 1950s Thomas W. Bone, D.O., ’55, Oroville, Calif. Quentin P. Kling, D.O., ’55, Palos Heights, Ill. Orrin W. Dana, D.O., ’56, Granbury, Texas Beach C. Graham, D.O., ’56, Worland, Wy. 1960s John R. Killinen, D.O., ’61, Lawrenceburg, Ky. Karen S. Jones, D.O., ’68 Todd C. Gould, D.O., ’69, Washington, Mich. Reginald Platt III, D.O., ’69, Dallas, Texas. 1970s John F. Maras, D.O., ’70, Indiantown, Fla. Leonard Strobel, D.O., ’70 Michael L. Glanzer, D.O., ’74, Belle Fourche, S.D. 2000s Briseida DeLeon Northrup, Au.D., ’02, Richardson, Texas.