CLASS NOTES
2020
Dr. Roger Meyer, Greensboro, Ga.: Still practicing surgery in Atlanta, Georgia (part-time). Sheila is also a part-time nurse anesthetist at local hospital. We enjoy living on Lake Oconee and enjoying golf (Sheila), tennis (me), bicycling, hiking, and visiting with our children and six grandchildren, who all live in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. We will have to “wait until next year” for Husky football! All the best to classmates and friends in the Pacific Northwest, the most beautiful place in the world – when not raining! (Spring 2020)
Dr. Roger A. Meyer: Still working part time in my surgery practice. We welcomed our sixth grandchild in April. Enjoying Husky success in football from a far! (Spring 2019)
Dr. Roger A. Meyer, Greensboro, Ga.: Received the John Freihaut “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Georgia Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for exemplary research, clinical practice, and teaching on the treatment of peripheral trigeminal nerve injuries in Atlanta, Georgia. This award is given only occasionally. I am the fourth recipient in the past 10 years. Altogether, a humbling experience to be so honored. I continue to practice part-time and write surgical articles and textbook chapters. Sheila and I are in good health and enjoying life. A fifth grandchild is expected soon! (Spring 2018)
2015
Dr. Jim Ellingsen, Hayden Lake, Idaho: So happy to have my granddaughter, Alexa Ellingsen, in the RIDE program and granddaughter Elise starting dental school at the UW in the fall. Still trying to shoot my age in golf. (Fall 2015)
2011
Dr. Roger Meyer, Greensboro, Ga.: My wife, Sheila, and I sold our home in Smyrna (suburb of Atlanta), Ga., and moved in August to Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee (the second-largest lake in Georgia), adjacent to the town of Greensboro, 75 miles east of Atlanta. We are looking forward to enjoying the many amenities of this lovely community. Sheila is still working (nurse anesthetist) in Atlanta. Although retired from my maxillofacial/plastic surgery practice since 2007, I keep up with medical/surgical matters. One of my former partners in practice and I have authored several papers on microsurgery and care of nerve injuries that have been or will be published in surgery journals and textbooks. I continue to lecture on these subjects as well. Life is good for us, and I feel blessed to have received part of my education at the UW. Best wishes to all our friends in the Pacific Northwest! (Spring 2011)
Dr. Roger Meyer, Smyrna, Ga: I retired from the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery on July 1, 2007. Writing, travelling, tennis, bicycling, running, hiking, cooking, piano and more time for my wife, Sheila, and my grandchildren are filling my days. It’s a real pleasure to no longer be a slave to my practice after forty years! It would be a pleasure to see you in Atlanta. (Spring 2008)
IN MEMORIAM
DR. FALCONER E. CAMPBELL, CLASS OF 1961
Dr. Falconer E. Campbell passed away on Nov. 1, 2012. He was 80.
Dr. Campbell was born on Feb. 22, 1932 in Glendale, Calif., and resided in Pasadena, Calif. After practicing for more than 30 years in downtown Los Angeles, he retired and turned his practice over to his son.
Dr. Campbell greatly enjoyed meeting with his classmates for their 50th reunion in Montana. He loved Husky football and enjoyed golf, skiing, and fishing in Alaska.
DR. ROBERT P. CAMPBELL, CLASS OF 1961
Dr. Robert P. “Bob” Campbell passed away on May 28, 2017 at his home in Spokane, Wash. He was 88.
Dr. Campbell was born on July 15, 1928 in Fargo, N.D. His family moved to the Moise Valley in Montana, which always remained “home” to him even though his family relocated many times across the Pacific Northwest. His family returned to the Moise Valley, where he attended Charlo High School. After obtaining his high school diploma in 1946, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and trained as a hospital corpsman. He served aboard the first troop transport vessel to Korea. Later, he was accepted into the Clinical Laboratory Technician program at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md., where he completed further naval medical training. In his final years in the military, he served at the Naval Hospital Blood Bank in Bremerton, Wash., until being honorably discharged in 1953. He was married to Sharon Spiers of Idaho Falls, Idaho, for 27 years, until her death in 1979.
Dr. Campbell graduated from Idaho State College. He established a private practice in Shelley, Idaho. In 1966 the couple moved to Spokane, where he worked for the Veterans Administration Medical Center and later become the Chief of Dental Services. He retired in 1990, after 24 years of service.
In 1981 he met and married Susanne, his wife of 35 years. Together they enjoyed traveling, boating, camping, gardening, and capturing life’s adventures in photography. He loved the game of golf and always looked forward to mornings on the course with his buddies. A lifelong Husky fan, he never missed watching football games.
Dr. Campbell is survived by his wife, Susanne (Sue); stepdaughters Ann (Chris) Klobucher and Cathy (Stuart) Bedell; stepson Mike (Linda) Crocker; and grandchildren Scott and Brad Bedell, Katie, Ellie and Leslie Crocker and Courtney Klobucher. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Dale F. Lott. (Legacy)
DR. JOHN M. DAVIS, DDS CLASS OF 1961, PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY CLASS OF 1967
Dr. John M. Davis died peacefully with his family by his side on Sept. 4, 2021 in Seattle, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 85. In 2000 he retired from the UW after 33 years, including one as Acting Chair of Pedodontics. In 2008 he retired from private practice.
He was born in Wenatchee, Wash., where he lived until graduation from high school. At the UW, he ran track and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. After three years of undergraduate study, he entered the School of Dentistry. During summer breaks he worked at Rocky Reach Dam and courted his future wife, Patricia, a lifeguard at the municipal pool in Wenatchee. After her graduation from Stanford University, they were married in 1960.
The Army intervened in their plans to travel, so the couple spent the next three years stationed in Bayreuth, Germany. While there he ran an Army dental clinic and their son, Jeffrey, was born. The couple took full advantage of the musical opportunities in that historic town until returning to Seattle so he could earn a Master of Science in Pediatric Dentistry. In 1967, he joined the UW pediatric dentistry (pedodontics) faculty and worked with Drs. David Law and Thompson Lewis to complete The Atlas of Pedodontics, which was published in five languages. The third edition in electronic form, with Dr. Devereaux Peterson, continues to be used around the world by dental students. Dr. Davis subsequently lectured abroad, particularly in Japan, South America, and Iran.
After nine years at the UW, Dr. Davis reduced his teaching schedule to half time and began a half-time private practice. He cherished the children of his practice, as well as his dedicated staff.
The couple were supportive of each other throughout their lives together: she for the first 24 years of his career and travels, and he for the next 24 years during her service in elected office. He was a kind and compassionate man whose last words were, “Thank you.”
His favorite vacation time was spent at the family’s Lake Chelan (Washington) cabin. He was famous for water skiing backwards and for 17 underwater somersaults, never matched by any challengers.
Dr. Davis is survived by his wife, Pat; daughters Christine (Brooke) Bostic and Camille (Eric) Dayment; grandchildren Isabella and Alex Davis and Gretchen and Gavin Dayment; sister Carol Allen; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son, Jeffrey, and sister Marilyn Pratt. (Wenatchee World, Pediatric Dentistry News 2013 (PDF) )
DR. WILLARD J. FILION, CLASS OF 1961
Dr. Willard J. Filion passed away on Feb. 1, 2018, surrounded by his immediate family. He was 87.
Dr. Filion was born on Dec. 21, 1930 in Gregory, S.D. to Lester L. and Laura E. Filion. When he was 2 years old, the family moved to Eastern Washington and, in 1936, settled in the Grand Coulee Dam area, where his father found employment.
Dr. Filion graduated from Grand Coulee High School in 1949. He was active in student government and played on all four of the major sports teams during those days. These were very happy days for him, as he developed many friendships that lasted throughout his life.
After high school, he joined the U.S. Navy for four years, serving primarily in the Pacific area during the Korean War. He was assigned as an electrician to the aircraft carrier USS Princeton for nearly three years. He thoroughly enjoyed his time in the Navy, and he and his buddies climbed Mount Fuji and participated in many other activities in Japan.
Upon discharge he spent a year in Eastern Washington, reacquainting himself with his parents and his brothers and their families. He attended Columbia Basin Community College in Pasco and played on the school baseball team. In 1957, he married Linda Beisner and they moved to Seattle, where he began attending the UW. After graduation he was admitted to the School of Dentistry.
Dr. Filion opened a dental practice in the Tukwila, Wash., area, where he practiced for some 53 years. He enjoyed his dental work and had many patients who became his best friends, including a number of old friends from Eastern Washington who settled in the Seattle area. He greatly appreciated his “all everything” assistant, Patti Carmada, who also managed the office. He always said, “When Patti retires, I retire.”
Dr. Filion is survived by his daughter, Holly Skinner, her sons Kyle and Jeff and their father, Jim, all of Atlanta; sons Rik (Malaty Lim) of Southern California and Scot of Seattle; brothers Lester (Virginia) of Seattle and Jerry (Barbara) of Issaquah; and many nieces and nephews. (Seattle Times)
DR. OSMOND MERRILL, CLASS OF 1961, ORTHODONTICS CLASS OF 1968
Dr. Osmond “Monte” Merrill of East Wenatchee, Wash., passed away peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 12, 2017. He was 86.
Dr. Merrill was born on Dec. 24, 1931 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Osmond Marriner and Elthura Raymond Merrill. Shortly after, his family moved to Richmond, Utah, where he graduated from North Cache High School. He attended Utah State University in Logan for 18 months before being called to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Central Atlantic states. He left for the mission home in Salt Lake City and was there only one week when the draft board canceled all deferments in Cache Valley. Many of his friends shipped off to the Korean War, but he returned home, having agreed to continue in the ROTC while attending school. At Utah State, he served as junior class president and president of Pi Kappa Alpha, and in other areas of student government and honorary organizations. He married the love of his life, Eunice Tidwell, in the Logan LDS Temple on May 16, 1951.After graduating from Utah State and ROTC, he attended meteorology school at the UW as a member of the U.S. Air Force. He served military duty in San Bernardino, Calif., and Fairbanks, Alaska. Afterward, he returned to Seattle and received degrees in dentistry and orthodontics from the UW. While in Seattle, he served as bishop of the Seattle 8th Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Dr. Merrill loved serving wherever and whenever he could and was always the first to volunteer. Many family members, neighbors and friends benefited from his expertise in gardening, roofing, sprinkler systems and turf placement. His garden produced an abundance of fruits and vegetables, and his yard was filled with roses of all varieties. He shared everything with family and friends. He loved canning, and memories made around the kitchen sink and stove will be treasured by his family. He had a great love for the Boy Scouts of America and served for over 50 years in that organization, receiving the Silver Beaver Award while serving in the Chief Seattle Council. He was an 11-year-old Scout leader at the age of 81, and his Scouts deemed him “cool.”
Dr. Merrill’s faith determined the path of his life, and he lived by these words: “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) He will be greatly missed by all who love him, but we know we will be together again because “Families Are Forever.”
He is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Eunice; children Marianne (Scott) Nash, Kristi (Mike) Anderton, Rob (Mary), Rick (Carlynn), and Tom (Elisabeth); 19 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; foster children Patricia, Kathy, and Alan Birdsbill; and two foster grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his sister Patricia Michaud and brother James.(Logan Herald Journal)
DR. RICHARD R. ROLLA, CLASS OF 1961
Dr. Richard Rudolph “Dick” Rolla of Bellevue, Wash., passed away on June 18, 2013. He was 82.
Dr. Rolla was born on Sept. 14, 1930, in Cumberland, Wis., to Rudolph Oliver and Evelyn Murial (Anderson) Rolla. He attended Renton High School and Washington State College. He enlisted in the Army in January 1951, served in a MASH dental unit in the Korean War and received the Korean Service, National Defense and United Nations Service medals.
Returning to civilian life, he married Norma Lea Stewart on June 18, 1954. After graduating from dental school at the UW, he became the dentist at the Rainier School for the severely handicapped in Buckley, Wash. He became a lecturer in Pedodontics at the School of Dentistry in 1965. At the UW Child Development and Mental Retardation Center (now the UW Center on Human Development and Disability Records), he taught doctoral, post-doctoral and dental hygiene students how to work with children with special needs. He then became the dentist at Fircrest in Seattle, another facility with a population of children with special needs, a position he held until his retirement. He devoted his entire career to helping children and adults with special needs.
Dr. Rolla loved hiking and fishing in the great Northwest and was an accomplished artist, singer and gardener. He created photographs, drawings, watercolors and oil paintings, as well as fiber art. His talent for the fine detail work of the dentist carried over into one of his favorite hobbies, wood carving. His carvings ranged from Northwest Coast tribal art to Norwegian figures. Another of his loves was singing. He started singing in junior high school in Renton and continued into his adult years in the church choir and with the Issaquah Singers until just a few years ago.
Dr. Rolla is survived by his wife, Norma Lea; daughters Lea Ann Rolla (Pat Chevara) and Trudy Carol Rolla (Eric) Polzin; grandsons Alexander Rudolph Rolla Polzin and Nicholas Leigh Rolla Polzin; and brother Ronald Anderson Rolla of Kennewick, Wash. (Seattle Times)
DR. JAMES W. STODDARD, CLASS OF 1961
Dr. James W. Stoddard, whose love for dentistry encompassed practicing and teaching, died of heart failure on Oct. 7, 2011 in Seattle. He was 79.
Dr. Stoddard was born on Nov. 26, 1931 in Seattle to James and Ruth (Love) Stoddard. His mother died when he was 10, so he spent time living with his aunt, uncle and cousins. He grew up in the Green Lake area, where he worked at Greg’s Greenlake Cycle. He met his future wife, Patricia “Patsy” Ostrom, at Roosevelt High School. After he served four years in the Air Force, the couple married on Sept. 28, 1956.
Dr. Stoddard graduated from the School of Dentistry in 1961 and spent his career in private practice. He was always willing to accept alternate forms of payment – including bushels of apples and sides of beef – from cash-strapped patients. He loved teaching and received many School of Dentistry student awards, including Part-Time Instructor of the Year, Outstanding Instructor, Faculty Appreciation Award and Faculty Teaching Award. He also received the Washington State Dental Association Faculty Award and, in 2007, the School’s Bruce R. Rothwell Lifetime Achievement Award. After retiring in 2000 and being appointed Lecturer Emeritus, he continued to teach as a volunteer one day a week.
Dr. Stoddard was a member of the American Dental Association, Seattle District Dental Society, Washington State Dental Association, International Association for Dental Research, American Association for Dental Research and Phi Gamma Delta, among others.
Dr. Stoddard gave back to the community in many ways. He was a dental staff member at Seattle’s United Cerebral Palsy Dental Clinic, a Merit Badge Advisor in Dentistry for the Boy Scouts of America, area captain for the March of Dimes and area chairman for the Heart Fund.
Above all, Dr. Stoddard loved his family. He and Mrs. Stoddard celebrated many anniversaries at the Grey Gull in Ocean Shores, most recently the week before he died. Camping trips were another family tradition, one that Dr. and Mrs. Stoddard continued with their grandchildren.
Dr. Stoddard is survived by his wife, Patsy; son John (Jan Hurley); daughter Lisa Stoddard Ray; and grandchildren Griffin and Hannah Stoddard and Kyra and Jonathon Ray (Jennifer Sun-He).
DR. CHARLES E. WEBBER, CLASS OF 1961
Dr. Charles Eric “Chuck” Webber died on Jan. 10, 2017 in Gig Harbor, Wash. He was 80.Dr. Webber was born on Sept. 16, 1936 in Seattle to Mildred and Albert Webber. He graduated from Roosevelt High School. He served as president of the Seattle-King County Dental Association and president of the Seattle Crown and Bridge Study Club. He was chairman of the Peer Review Committee for many years and was honored with a Seattle-King County Dental Society service award for his work in the community and the dental profession.
Dr. Webber was a Fellow of the International College of Dentists and a Fellow of Pierre Fauchard Academy. He was known as a stubborn Swede with a great sense of humor. He enjoyed skiing and sailing with his family and friends.
Dr. Webber is survived by Dede, his wife of 55 years; son Jeffery (Stacey) of Gig Harbor; and daughter Laura (Justin) and son Kairo of San Diego. (Legacy)