Obituaries

Denise Thomas, a medical assistant for 28 years in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a student at University College, died July 4, 2017, in St. Louis. Thomas, 52, died several days after suffering a stroke at her home in St. Louis.

Richard F. “Dick” Ford, emeritus trustee of Washington University in St. Louis, died Saturday, July 8, 2017, at his home in St. Louis after a long battle with cancer. He was 81.

Robert C. Drews, MD, a professor emeritus of clinical ophthalmology at the School of Medicine, died May 9 at his home in St. Louis, following a stroke. He was 86. Drews was also an alumnus and a former member of the Board of Trustees.

Jean Holowach Thurston, MD, a pioneering pediatric neurologist at the School of Medicine, died April 29. She was 99. Thurston’s influential research served as a guide for colleagues in treating childhood seizure disorders.

John M. Fredrickson, MD, former head of the Department of Otolaryngology and a professor emeritus of otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died April 5, 2017, in Vancouver, Canada. He was 86.

Travis Conrad Mazer, a doctoral candidate studying molecular genetics and genomics, died unexpectedly Monday, April 24, 2017, in St. Louis. Mazer was 25. A Kalamazoo, Mich., native who was fascinated by science and politics, Mazer began working toward a PhD in August at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Brian Schlitt, a first-year student at the School of Law, died Wednesday, April 12, 2017, following a brief illness. He was 38.

Donald Stahl, a master’s degree student in University College in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died March 22 at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond Heights, Mo., after suffering a heart attack on campus. He was 73.

Peter G. Sortino, assistant vice chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis and a longtime St. Louis civic leader, died Friday, March 24, 2017, at his home in Sunset Hills, Mo., of pancreatic cancer. He was 62.

Frederick D. Peterson, MD, a former professor of clinical pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine, died March 2, 2017, in his sleep at a nursing home in Chesterfield, Mo.