Illinois Medicine

Memorial Gifts To make a memorial gift to the college, please as senior public health specialist in 2001, having worked previously for the World Health Organization, the Agency for International Development and the AGA Kahn Foundation. A U.S. Army Medical Officer, he spoke Spanish, Portuguese, French and German. Board-certified in pediatrics, Boostrom received certification in general preventive medicine at UCLA School of Medicine, completed a master's of public health in international health and a doctorate of public health at UCLA's School of Public Health. Following his retirement from the World Bank he moved to Okinawa, Japan, where he regularly taught public health, epidemiology, health project and human resource planning and management, and sustainable development-related topics for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan's National Institute of Public Health and Hokkaido University Postgraduate Medical School. He married Sumiko Ogawa in September 2003 in Okinawa. Mania (Novik) Levitan, MD, Res '69, died in March 2012. Born in Lithuania, Levitan fled the country at a young age with her parents and survived World War II in Russia. She eventually came to the U.S. and was a dedicated physician who had a special relationship with her patients. She was the wife of the late Jacob Levitan, mother of three and grandmother of four. '69 Thomas V. Geocaris, MD, Res '74, of Allouez, Wis., died April 10, 2012. One of three general surgeons in the country using robotics earlier in his career, Geocaris led the development of the first robotic surgery program in the Green Bay, Wis., area. He was also the first surgeon in Green Bay to perform bariatric surgery and the first to do a single-site surgery. After living in Chicago and Mount Prospect, Ill., when he was young, Geocaris relocated after '74 medical school to Green Bay, Wis., where he practiced general surgery for 34 years—the last 10 years with his daughter, Cynthia Geocaris, at Surgery Specialists of Green Bay. His wife, Patty, and his other children, Mike, Tim and Kerry, all worked with him. He served on the Berlin Health Board of Directors and was chairman of the Berlin Health Surgery Department. Geocaris was an exemplary teacher, precise and compassionate surgeon and a perpetual "jokester" with a childlike sense of humor enjoyed by all. contact the Office of Medical Advancement at (312) 996-4470 or Give2Med@uic.edu. Byron C. Evans, MD '97, of Champaign, Ill., died June 17, 2012. Born in Los Angeles, Evans worked part-time at the Champaign Public Library and was a substitute teacher for Gerber Cunningham School. After a lengthy courtship, he married Brenda Clevenger on July 11, 2007, in Las Vegas. A member of the Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene, Evans enjoyed gardening. He is survived by his wife, two stepchildren and one grandson. '97 Victoria Kut, MD, Res '97, of Lake Forest, Ill, died on July 15, 2012. Born in Malta in 1968, she completed her medical residency at the College of Medicine and an oncology fellowship at Northwestern University. She leaves behind her beloved husband, Joseph, and her son, Matthew, as well as her many patients for whom she cared so deeply. illinois medicine | 43

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