Illinois Medicine

ALUMNI Sol Ludmerer '36, MD '37, died on Aug. 10, 2012. Ludmerer would have celebrated 75 years as a physician at the 2012 alumni reunion and still held an active medical license at the time of his passing. Ludmerer served as the founding chair of ophthalmology at what is now the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. After earning his medical degree, Ludmerer completed a graduate program in ophthalmology at Northwestern and a residency in ophthalmology at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. He spent the wartime years doing public health in southern Illinois, where he treated victims of trachoma, and working for Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, Calif. At the end of World War II, Ludmerer entered private practice in Long Beach, where he became wellknown for his technical skill, judgment and kindness. He retired from private practice in 1981. He and his wife, Norma, had three children and two grandchildren. '37 Philip C. Williams, MD '41, died in March 2012. A founding member and fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Williams maintained a private practice in ob/gyn for 44 years in Chicago until his retirement in 1992. A captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, Williams received five combat service ribbons and one Bronze Star. He served the Stritch School of Medicine as a clinical assistant and later as a clinical professor. Williams was a professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medical School from 1981 until he attained emeritus status in 1993. In 1992, he was voted Teacher of the Year by the residents of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at St. Joseph's Hospital, where he also served for 32 years. He was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons, a member of the Central Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and of the Chicago Gynecological Society, serving as both its treasurer and president. He also served as president of the American Cancer Society's Chicago unit and director of its Illinois division. He and his wife, Constance, had three children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. George Howard Gould, MD '49, of Kalispell, Mont., died May 16, 2012. He served as a pharmacist mate in the Navy in 1942 and then received a degree in pre-medicine through the V12 Navy College Training Program. After graduating from medical school, Gould completed a twoyear rotating internship at Cook County Hospital. He returned to the Navy as a physician in 1951 during the Korean War. Following his naval service, Gould '49 worked for the United States Park Service in Yellowstone Park as a resident physician for one year. In 1955, he moved to Kalispell with his business partner, Jerry Wildgen, to open a family medicine practice that lasted 38 years. Gould met his wife, Barbara, in Yellowstone Park while working at Old Faithful Inn. Married in 1950 in Chicago, the couple raised eight children and had 15 grandchildren. An excellent educator, Gould also served as program director of WWAMI, a cooperative program of the University of Washington School of Medicine and the states of Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Gould enjoyed golf and exploring the Montana outdoors with his family, and he was an active member of St. Matthew's Catholic Church. Ruth Geyer Lerner '49, MD '51, died on Oct. 16, 2012. Lerner was a physician, activist, sportswoman and artist. Born in Vejprty, Czech Republic, Lerner and her family were forced into hiding during World War II but managed to survive the war intact. After '51 emigrating first to England, the family eventually settled in Chicago, where she was able to fulfill her lifelong ambition of becoming a pediatrician. She also met and married Herbert Lerner, MD, with whom she set up practice in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, where they provided care for more 50 years, sometimes giving charity care to low-income families. Ruth Lerner actively campaigned for civil rights and the peace movement during the 1960s and '70s, marching on Selma, Ala.; Cicero, Ill.; and Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Her passion for equality and peace led her and her husband to host many fundraisers at their Kenwood family home, some attended by Dr. King as well as singeractivists Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. A fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and member of the college's Alpha Omega Alpha honorary medical society, Lerner was also a talented artist and craftsperson who handmade furniture and ornaments, as well as a versatile athlete who competed in women's shot put, tennis and swimming. She and her husband had three children and four grandchildren. '41 Rudy P. Froeschle, MD '51, of North Fort Myers, Fla., died on Dec. 3, 2012. Born to German immigrants in Hazen, N.D., Froeschle and his brother, Helmuth, were the first two Eagle Scouts in town. He attended North Dakota State University in Fargo and joined the Army Air Corps in 1942. Froeschle served as a B-17 pilot and, during his second mission in Stuttgart, Germany, his plane was shot down. Froeschle spent 601 days as a prisoner of war and was awarded the Purple Heart. While in captivity, he taught German grammar and literature to college students; after escaping, he headed to the nearest town in southern Germany, where he met General George Patton. In 1945 he married Mildred Schow, and the couple had four children. After medical school, where he served as president of the Class of 1951, Froeschle practiced in Wisconsin, before returning to his hometown of Fort Myers in 1955. In 1962, he became a resident in anesthesia at University of Wisconsin-Madison and then practiced in New York, where he married Judy Wiggins. Froeschle played trombone from age 16 until shortly before his death with a local group at the Lake Kennedy Senior Center that has played together weekly for the past 22 years. He served as a member and officer in a variety of community, political, pilot, musical, medical and veterans organizations, including Commodore of the Cape Coral Sailing Club. Froeschle is survived by his wife, Judy Wiggins Froeschle, six children, seven grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. illinois medicine | 41

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