The Memorial Wall

"I love you"- these words were so often spoken by Alan "Dusty" G. Dustin. Just shy of 93 years, he rode peacefully into the setting sun on February 27, 2022. Parkinson's Disease had taken his strength, and his indomitable spirit could no longer be contained.

Born into this beautiful world in Plattsburgh, NY in 1929, his devoted parents were Edith Hyde Dustin and Grant Dustin. Although he was an extremely serious man regarding projects or ventures embarked upon, he had a lighter, compassionate side and was remembered for his leadership without the pedestal. His highly inquisitive nature, intelligence and keen mind were perpetual, as was his warmth and beaming smile.

At age 15, Dusty gained his fine business sense employed by Zahn's grocery store in Plattsburgh after his parents had passed. His railroad career began at age 16 as a baggage clerk in Ticonderoga NY (where he met his future wife, Elsie!), then onto the Delaware and Hudson Railroad where he became fluent as a Morse Code Telegrapher. In 1970 he joined the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad as Vice President and CEO, and in 1974 became the President of the Boston & Maine Railroad, where he led the charge out of the depths of the 1970 bankruptcy by dramatically repairing infrastructure, improving service, and repairing the B&M's reputation. In 1984 he became the Vice President of the New Jersey Transit until his retirement in 1988. Dusty had become a renowned figure to both B&M fans and railroad enthusiasts, garnering immense respect. He had become the very picture of a railroad executive whose kindness and love for his industry helped to guide the railroad through a difficult point in its history. He continued to travel the world where he was a valued railway business consultant in Alaska, Africa, Argentina, and Czechoslovakia; he also had a major hand in the restructuring of the Chunnel between France and England.

Dusty (given the name "Pops" by his grandchildren!) was wild about being outside - an avid runner, camper, swimmer, tennis player, hiker, cyclist, fisherman, gardener. After the removal of a benign brain tumor in 1979, his quest for wellness increased, and he began organic gardening. He felt a great kinship with the wild west, cowboys, and the high nautical sea - Dusty loved reading Louis L'Amour, and Zane Grey. When his daughter Sandy joined him in an adventure to Alaska and the Great West, together they joyfully participated in hijinks such as climbing over fences to access areas not listed in guidebooks. Sharing big band music, enjoying a whiskey sour, Dusty had a great love for his family, friends, and church community- and he made sure we felt his love. That is his true legacy.

Dusty was predeceased by his brother Kenneth who was shot down while flying a B-29 over Tokyo in 1944, his older sister Virginia Keyser, and loving wife Elsie of 63 years of marriage. Having lost his brother during the war, he was not obligated to join the armed forces. However, he felt it was his duty, so he joined the Army and served in the Korean War. In 1952 he returned home, married Elsie and they had four children. Dusty took pride in being a 7th generation direct descendant of Hannah Emerson Dustin, the first woman in the United States to have a statue erected in her honor as a “Colonial Mother” during early America.

He leaves his sister Helen Philips, daughter Diane Itasaka, daughter Carol Nadeau and her husband Robert Nadeau, son Alan K. Dustin, daughter Sandra Dustin and her husband Chris O’Connor, daughter-in-law Hako Itasaka, and four grandchildren; Alexandria Itasaka, Kenji Dustin, Masami Dustin and Kiyoshi Dustin.

Dusty's family is grateful for the care and sense of community that Riverwoods Manchester lovingly provided for him over the past 4 years.

Happy Trails to our immensely beloved dad.

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 12 April 1930, Landy attended Malvern Memorial Grammar School and Geelong Grammar School. He graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1954, receiving a Bachelor of Agricultural Science.

Australian media reported that Landy had a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

During his school years, Landy enjoyed watching middle-distance track events. He became a serious runner during his university years, joining the Geelong Guild Athletic Club in 1949; he was a member of the Australian Olympic team at both the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, taking the Olympic Oath at the 1956 Olympics. On 21 June 1954, at an international meet at Turku, Finland, Landy became the second man, after Roger Bannister, to achieve a sub-4-minute mile, recording a world record time of 3:57.9, ratified by the IAAF as 3:58.0 owing to the rounding rules then in effect. That record held for more than three years.

Landy ran his second sub-4-minute mile at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, held at Vancouver, British Columbia, in the mile race, but lost to Roger Bannister, who had his best-ever time. This meeting of the world's two fastest milers was alternately called "The Miracle Mile", the "Race of the Century", and the "Dream Race"; it was heard over the radio by 100 million people and seen on television by millions more. On the final turn of the last lap, as Landy looked over his left shoulder, Bannister passed him on the right. A larger-than-life bronze sculpture of the two men at this moment was created by Vancouver sculptor Jack Harman in 1967 from a photograph by Vancouver Sun photographer Charlie Warner and stood for many years at the entrance to Empire Stadium; after the stadium was demolished, the sculpture was moved to the Hastings and Renfrew entrance of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) fairgrounds. In 2015, it returned to the site of the stadium. Regarding this sculpture, Landy quipped that "While Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back."

Landy ran a mile in 3:57.9 on June 21, 1954, just 46 days after British rival Roger Bannister became the first man to break four minutes. Landy’s time was faster, and he held the world record for three years.

Bannister died in 2018, seven years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

At the 1956 Australian National Championships prior to the Melbourne Olympic Games, in the final of the mile race, Landy stopped and doubled back to check on fellow runner Ron Clarke after another runner clipped Clarke's heel, causing him to fall early in the third lap of the race. Landy, who was close behind, leaped to clear his body but scraped his spikes on Clarke's shoulder. Clarke, the then-junior mile world record holder, who had been leading the race, got back to his feet and started running again; Landy followed. In the final two laps Landy made up the deficit to win the race. The National Centre for History and Education in Australia said that "[i]t was a spontaneous gesture of sportsmanship, and it has never been forgotten." Sculptor Mitch Mitchell created a bronze sculpture of the moment when Landy helps Clarke to his feet. The sculpure was dedicated in June 2002 and is on Olympic Boulevard, Olympic Park in Melbourne.

On 1 January 2001, Landy was sworn in as the 26th Governor of Victoria, succeeding Sir James Gobbo. He was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on the recommendation of Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks, who remained premier throughout his term. Landy retired as governor on 7 April 2006 and was succeeded by David de Kretser. On 15 March 2006, in the final month of his term as governor, Landy was the final runner in the Queen's Baton relay during the 2006 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at the Melbourne Cricket Ground stadium in Melbourne, presenting the baton to the Queen.

It was a journey that seemed doomed from the start: An octogenarian couple, one spiriting the other away from a residential care home in a white Mazda pickup, the breadth of the treacherous Australian outback laid out before them.

Sometime before New Year’s Day, Ralph “Terry” Gibbs, 80, left Queensland, in northeastern Australia, to reunite with his partner of 15 years, Carol Lisle, 84, in Western Australia. Ms. Lisle, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and dementia, had been moved to a care home there by her goddaughter. Mr. Gibbs, guided by a paper map, was determined to drive her 3,000 miles back to his home.

The star-crossed pair made headlines in Australia as a national manhunt got underway. Two days after the kidnapping, the couple was found by patrolling police officers in a remote Aboriginal community near the border with the Northern Territory, both in ailing health.

Now, nearly two months later, the saga has come to an even sadder end: Ms. Lisle and Mr. Gibbs died within days of each other this week, a friend of Ms. Lisle’s told Australia’s national broadcaster.

Ms. Lisle died in her sleep on Monday. Two days later, Mr. Gibbs was killed in Queensland in a head-on collision between his pickup truck and another vehicle.

Their lovelorn tale began in March, when Ms. Lisle’s goddaughter moved her into the care home near Mandurah in Western Australia because of concerns that Mr. Gibbs, who had been in the hospital, was unable to give her the care she needed, she told The Australian, a national newspaper.

In the months afterward, the couple had been able to see each other only four times, Mr. Gibbs later told reporters, because of Western Australia’s rigorous coronavirus restrictions, which have left the state closed to the rest of the country for months at a time.

“All day every day, she says, ‘Please take me out of here, please take me out of here,’ and when I would leave to go home, she would say, ‘Can I come with you?’” Mr. Gibbs told The Guardian last week. “She even wanted to walk to the airport.”

Mr. Gibbs, his truck loaded with jerrycans of diesel and water, absconded with Ms. Lisle on Jan. 2.

After more than 24 hours on the road in temperatures that sometimes exceeded 105 degrees Fahrenheit, they were apprehended. Both were suffering from dehydration, a spokesman for the police said. Ms. Lisle, a wheelchair user, was reportedly distressed, smelled of urine and was wearing the same outfit she had on when Mr. Gibbs took her from her care home.

“The area they were found in is extremely remote,” Detective Senior Constable James Stewart said at a news conference last month. He added: “What they were doing is extremely risky. They are both very frail, their mobility isn’t good and they didn’t have sufficient water and supplies to go on that sort of journey. But thankfully they’ve been found and are OK.”

Last week, Mr. Gibbs pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully detaining a mentally ill person. He was given a seven-month suspended sentence and a two-year restraining order that barred him from visiting his partner.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Mr. Gibbs said he worried that he and Ms. Lisle would not be reunited. “I fear that I might never see my little girl again,” he said. “She is fading quickly.”

Raelene Johnston, the magistrate, acknowledged that Mr. Gibbs had absconded with his partner out of a desire to be with her.

“The ending of your cohabitation with Ms. Lisle must have been heartbreaking for you, given the bond you had with your partner,” she said. “I accept your motive was one of love and affection. I do not doubt that.”

via nytimes.com

Dee Helfgott was a dedicated mother and wife, hardworking businesswoman, lifelong advocate for women, social action, Democratic politics, and Judaism, and a great friend to many. After health challenges related to Parkinson's disease, she died peacefully at home in Palm Desert on February 22, 2022. Born in Madison, Wisconsin to Harold and Ida Blachman, Dee and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1944 and she attended John Burroughs Middle School and Los Angeles High School. In 1964, she married Marvin Helfgott, a pharmacist, in Beverly Hills. They raised their family in the West LA neighborhood of Beverlywood, where they lived for over 30 years. Dee left college to start a family and would later earn two degrees from USC, a BS in Public Affairs in 1978 and a Master of Public Administration in 1981. The centerpieces of the Helfgott's life in LA were Temple Isaiah and Dennis Pharmacy, both on Pico Boulevard. One of Dee's proudest moments was becoming Isaiah's first woman president, in 1981-82. Another major accomplishment, though a trying one, was her formation of the Coalition for Handgun Control in 1975, which brought together community groups, politicians, religious leaders, teachers, and Hollywood stars, to fight the scourge of gun violence. In 1998, Dee and Marv moved to the Sun City retirement community in Palm Desert, remaining there for 22 years. There, they made a whole new circle of friends and Dee became actively involved at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Desert Jewish Film Festival, which brought her tremendous fulfillment. Dee was a warm, affectionate, incredibly strong and beautiful human being who always saw the good in people. She was both fun and funny and could always take a joke. She and Marv were always the first ones out on the dancefloor. She was an elegant lady who loved Chico's clothing and jewelry and would never leave the house without lipstick. Dee was preceded in death by Marvin, who died on January 11, 2021. She is survived by her daughter Hali Helfgott, son Jason Helfgott, and brother Larry Blachman. 

John R. “Jack” Breihan, emeritus professor of history at Loyola University Maryland who wrote several books and numerous articles on Maryland aviation history, Baltimore history and architectural preservation, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease Friday at Edenwald Retirement Community in Towson. The former Roland Park and Ellicott City resident was 74.

“Jack was a very talented teacher and got a lot of students excited about history and put a great deal of emphasis on writing,” said Dr. Matthew Mulcahy, a colleague of Mr. Breihan’s for 22 years at Loyola.

“It just wasn’t about facts, but crafting arguments, and students just loved him,” Dr. Mulcahy said. “Our department was very small and he transformed it.”

Another colleague, Thomas Pegram, who also taught history, said in a university statement announcing Mr. Breihan’s death that “he was involved in so much during Loyola’s transformation into a regional comprehensive university.”

“Since I arrived at Loyola in 1990, Jack was the personification of Loyola’s mission to educate and serve. His energy and initiative were matched by his generosity and compassion. He was the best person I ever knew,” Mr. Pegram said.

John Robert Breihan, the son of Irwin Breihan, a civil engineer, and his wife, Antoinette, a homemaker, was born and raised in St. Louis, where he graduated in 1965 from St. John Vianney High School.

He was a cum laude graduate of Princeton University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1969 in history. He received his Ph.D., also in history, in 1978, from the University of Cambridge in England.

Mr. Breihan joined the Loyola faculty in 1977 as an assistant professor of history, a position he held until 1983, when he became an associate in the department and tenured.

“Jack came to Loyola just as it was becoming a powerhouse, and he was one of the first of the national hires,” said his wife of 52 years, Dr. Ann Whitney.

He served twice as history department chair, from 1983 to 1987, and again from 2001 to 2004.

Chris Kaltenbach, a retired Baltimore Sun reporter, was a freshman when Mr. Breihan began teaching at Loyola in 1977.

In a Facebook post, Mr. Kaltenbach wrote that Mr. Breihan was “one of the best teachers I ever had, a man who had an unrelenting passion for life and made learning seem like the best thing ever. It’s been said that a good teacher makes his subject come alive. Jack Breihan not only made history come alive, but he made it seem fun. And cool. I mean, with Jack as your guide, who wouldn’t want to learn this stuff?”

Mr. Breihan had high expectations for his students.

“Not that Jack’s courses were cakewalks. Far from it. He expected you to work hard, to ask questions about things you didn’t understand, to wrestle with the material until you mastered it,” Mr. Kaltenbach wrote.

During his tenure at Loyola, Mr. Breihan researched and taught military history, history through film, and historic preservation. He also played an influential role in launching the College Honors and writing-across-the-curriculum programs, while developing a deep interest in the World War II years and Maryland aviation.

At his death, Mr. Breihan was writing a book about World War II suburban development, his wife said.

“Jack taught a class on Baltimore history and architecture that was very popular,” said Dr. Mulcahy, who was history department chair from 2007 to 2014.

“When he taught his Baltimore History and Architecture class, one of the assignments was that students had to write a history of a neighborhood, and they got extra credit if they got it posted to Wikipedia,” Dr. Mulcahy said in the Loyola statement.

Mr. Breihan also wrote “Between Munich and Pearl Harbor: The Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company Gears Up for War, 1938-1941,” an article published by the Maryland Historical Magazine in 1993.

In 1939 as France and Germany lurched toward war, the French government awarded the Martin Co. a rush contract for planes, and almost overnight, Mr. Breihan explained in a 2008 interview with The Sun, Martin’s employment went from 3,000 to 10,000, and by war’s end topped out at 54,000.

To accommodate war workers, the company built its first housing, named Stansburg Manor on Wilson Point Road, which was a garden-apartment complex.

With the coming of World War II, the Martin Co. built Aero Acres in Middle River in 1941 near its plant to house white war workers, and similarly in the early 1940s, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City constructed a planned community, Cherry Hill, the South Baltimore neighborhood that was ringed by parks and cul-de-sacs, for African Americans.

Intrigued by its history, Mr. Breihan and 17 of his students began documenting Cherry Hill’s background in 2000 when they interviewed original residents. The collaboration between teacher and students resulted in a 30-page document titled “Cherry Hill: A Community History.”

“This is an admirable community,” he told The Sun in a 2003 interview. “The real building of the community is done by the people who live in it. Each Cherry Hill club, church congregation, or recreation team was begun by Cherry Hill’s African American residents.”

“The neighborhood has been quite a powerhouse for producing powerful Black leaders,’” he explained in the newspaper article.

Interested in historic preservation and aviation, Mr. Breihan had served on the boards of Baltimore Heritage and the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum

via Frederick N. Rasmussen at the Baltimore Sun

Surajit Sengupta played two Asian Games and for all top Kolkata clubs with his best coming at East Bengal from 1974-79

Former India forward and East Bengal star Surajit Sengupta died here on Thursday following complications after a severe Covid-19 infection. He was 70 and is survived by wife Shyamali, son Snighadeb and daughter-in-law Keka. Admitted to a city hospital on January 23 with respiratory distress, a history of ischemic heart illness and Parkinson’s disease, Sengupta was on ventilator support. His death comes 26 days after his club and country teammate Subhas Bhowmick’s passing.

Sengupta played in the 1974 and 1978 Asian Games. He scored two goals in the 1978 Games, one each against Bangladesh and Kuwait. His India debut came in the 1974 Merdeka Cup and that Sengupta played 14 internationals in a club career that spanned over 10 years was proof more of how irregular India games were in that time than his ability. Bhowmick, whose India career had 24 games, would often say Sengupta’s dribbling prowess and goalscoring ability exceeded his. 

Proof of how dangerous the two were came in the 1975 IFA Shield final when Bhowmick ran rings around Mohun Bagan and Sengupta scored the first of the five goals for East Bengal. It remains the biggest margin of victory in the Kolkata derby. Sengupta had joined coach PK Banerjee’s all-conquering East Bengal team of the early 1970s one year earlier. He captained East Bengal in 1978 when they won the Durand Cup, IFA Shield, Federation Cup and the Bordoloi Trophy beating Port Authority Bangkok 4-2; Sengupta scoring twice in the final. In five years as a red-and-gold player, Sengupta also won the Kolkata league and IFA Shield double thrice (1974, 75, 76), Rovers Cup (1975) and the Darjeeling Gold Cup (1976). East Bengal gave Sengupta their lifetime achievement award in 2018.

Sengupta’s career began at Kolkata’s Khidirpur Club and he joined Mohun Bagan in 1972 which was also the first time he and Bhowmick played together. Sengupta returned to Mohun Bagan in 1980 and stayed with them till retiring from football in 1983. With Mohun Bagan, he won the Calcutta league (1983), Federation Cup in 1981 and 1982, Sait Nagjee Gold Cup (1981) and the Darjeeling Gold Cup (1982). He also played a season for Mohammedan Sporting in 1980, winning the Sikkim Gold Cup, DCM Trophy and Rovers Cup (joint-winners with East Bengal). Sengupta scored 147 club goals, 92 for East Bengal and 54 for Mohun Bagan and one for Mohammedan Sporting. He also had 26 goals in four successive victorious Santosh Trophy campaigns (1975-78) for Bengal.

Ricardo Villanueva Puno Jr.  was a Filipino television public affairs host, media executive, newspaper columnist, and lawyer.

Former Press Secretary Ricardo “Dong” Puno Jr. died on Tuesday from complications of Parkinson’s disease, his brother, former Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, confirmed to the Inquirer. He was 76.

The lawyer, columnist and veteran broadcaster was in and out of the hospital as his sickness progressed.

Still, his brother said Puno’s demise was a surprise to the family since he just returned from confinement, seemed to be getting better and even received visitors on Sunday.

“The family is grieving, hindi namin expected talaga,” Ronaldo said over the phone.

Puno became a household name in the mid-1980s when his talk show “Viewpoint” aired on GMA.

Puno, a fluent English speaker, was fresh from his first stint as corporate secretary of Philippine Airlines, when his program launched in 1984 tackled controversial public affairs issues just as the country was reeling from the assassination of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

Viewpoint ran for 10 years and won many awards before Puno transferred to ABS-CBN, this time hosting the prime time talk show “Dong Puno Live!” in Filipino.

While in ABS-CBN, Puno also worked as vice president for overhead news operations and senior vice president for news and current affairs from October 1994 to April 2000.

Many were shocked when he left ABS-CBN to join the Estrada Cabinet as press secretary a month later to replace veteran newsman Rodolfo Reyes.

President Joseph Estrada was ousted in January 2001 but Puno joined his senatorial line-up for the May election. Puno lost his Senate bid and eventually returned to ABS-CBN to host “Dong Puno Nightly.”

In 2003, he was appointed as senior vice president (SVP) for integrated news and current affairs but gave up the position the following year after the network enforced a policy prohibiting ABS-CBN executives from having on-camera programs at the same time.

Unsuccessful in politics Puno told Inquirer Entertainment then that he had asked ABS-CBN to relieve him of his corporate duties as SVP so he could “focus [his] energies on greater on-air and on-camera involvement in various platforms” of the network.

“I really want to focus on actual, on-cam programs,” Puno told the Inquirer on the phone that time.

Puno found himself in front of the camera again in 2005 to anchor the short-lived “Insider” before trying his hand anew in politics.

He ran for representative of the lone district of Muntinlupa in 2007 and 2010. He lost both times.

Puno returned to media in 2011, hosting a television talk show with a political format in “Aksyon TV” and later, the public affairs radio program “Karambola” with other block-timers on AM radio.

Puno was the eldest child of former Minister of Justice and Court of Appeals Associate Justice Ricardo Puno Sr. and the former Priscilla Villanueva. He obtained his law education from Ateneo de Manila University and Harvard Law School.

He is survived by his wife, Christy; sons Ricky and Donnie, and 11 siblings, including former Interior Secretary and House Deputy Speaker Roberto “Robbie” Puno.

Robert Staples Howard, Howard Publications newspaper founder dies at 97. Robert (Bob) Howard died February 11, at home in Palm Desert after a long battle with Parkinson's. Bob had an illustrious career buying, selling and publishing daily and weekly newspapers. He amassed 18 dailies under the Howard Publications banner with some 2,000 employees and nearly a half million circulation.

The son of (Capt) Earl Eaton Howard and Helen (Staples) Howard, the publishers of a small weekly in Wheaton, MN, Bob was born October 23, 1924, the third of three children. The family had an Army Heritage with Earl serving in WWI and Bob and his brother Col. Thomas Howard in WWII. Thomas was a staff officer for General Patton through Africa, Italy and Germany. Bob, left the University of Minnesota becoming a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Corp flying bombers as a navigator and nose gunner in the South Pacific. He earned a Purple Heart after being shot down in the Battle of Layte.

After the war Bob returned to University where he met and married Lillian Irene Crabtree. They moved home soon after to relieve his widowed mother of publishing the Wheaton Gazette. Thus began his long career of buying and selling papers making eight moves in different states across the U.S. His management acumen was noticed by the owners of the Scripps League of Seattle who hired Bob to manage their group of dailies. He later sold Scripps his papers in Kalispell, Montana and Pocatello, Idaho going back out on his own by purchasing a paper in Chester, Pennsylvania where he founded Howard Publications, collecting dailies, cable companies and television stations.

During their many moves Lil and Bob had four children: Thomas, Andrea, William and David. Tom and Bill published newspapers in Wyoming and Idaho in their early years. Later Tom and David founded Howard Energy diversifying the family holdings into oil and gas exploration and further into pharmaceuticals. Bill and Andrea's husband, Jack Palmer remained running the newspapers until they were sold to Lee Enterprises in 2002 ending the families three generations of publishing but beginning an era of philanthropy. Much of his fortune was returned, mostly anonymously, through his foundation to the various communities where he lived and published. The list of his gifts is extensive; nothing grandiose or flashy but targeted and needs fulfilling at the community level, all given quietly and modestly.

Both Lillian and Tom died in Montana, Lillian of a brain hemorrhage in 2008 at 86 and Tom of esophageal cancer in 2019. Bob spent his final 12 years with a new love, Peggy Jacobs, in Palm Springs, CA and his Lakeside, Montana summer home.

He is survived by Peggy Jacobs, his three remaining children and spouses, 17 Grandchildren, and 25 great grandchildren .

Ned Phillippe was born in 1946, and died peacefully in his home of Parkinson's disease on Fed 10, 2022. He was the oldest son of Don and Ruth Phillippe of Indiana and is survived by two brothers, John and Tom. Ned earned a MS degree in education from Indiana University. He worked as a teacher, and in transportation with Northwest Airlines and Amtrak.

John Q. John Q. Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D., a physician, neuropathologist and scientist at University of Pennsylvania, a guy who identified major toxic proteins that drive many neurodegenerative diseases and developed animal models to match the discoveries, died on February 8th. He was 75. His findings over the decades would change what the field knew about conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, offering evidence that the different toxic proteins share a common biological mechanism: they spread toxic proteins from cell to cell corrupting their normal counterpart to become toxic along the way, and in the end the brain may have many different toxic proteins, and not just the ones associated with a particular disease. Dr. Trojanowski was passionate about science and driven, and this gentle giant of a scientist -- he was 6'4 -- shared his scientific and personal life with his wife, Penn biochemist Virginia Lee. Their findings opened up new avenues of research in neurodegenerative diseases. The duo trained so many scientists over their 45 years together, and many credit their success to what they learned in the Trojanowski/ Lee lab. Dr. Trojanowski received his medical and doctoral degrees at Tufts University. He did graduate training in Rotterdam and came back to the states for his residency in neuropathology at Massachusetts General and Harvard Medical School. He met his life-long collaborator, Dr. Lee, in Massachusetts and the two of them moved to University of Pennsylvania in the early 1980s, and have been there since then. Dr. Trojanowski created so many firsts at UPenn, including a brain bank, the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, and a center to develop drugs to target these toxic proteins. He was founding director of the ADRC, director at the Institute on Aging at Penn; director of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center of Excellence. John Trojanowski was one of seven children raised on Army bases throughout the country and in Guam. Their father was a career Army officer, and then settled into a comfortable career in real estate in Connecticut. He was passionate about science and knew he wanted to go to medical school, and not into the family business. He never looked back. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Lee, and his brother David and four of his other siblings. Dr. Lee and his other colleagues are planning a memorial symposium on neurodegeneration in the Fall.