Victor Sarabia, M.D., longtime friend of the medical school, passes at 91
The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine mourns the passing of Victor Sarabia, M.D., FACS, a longtime friend of the medical school. Sarabia was a charter member of the Wright State University Academy of Medicine. He served as a clinical faculty member in the Department of Surgery from 1975 to 2006. Dr. Sarabia was 91 years old.
Sarabia received his medical degree from San Marcos University in Lima, Peru, in 1954. After moving to the United States, he completed residency at the Dayton Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center between 1963 and 1966 before setting up a private practice.
In addition to solo practice, Dr. Sarabia was on surgical staff at many local hospitals, including Good Samaritan Hospital, Miami Valley Hospital, St. Elizabeth Hospital, and children’s hospitals. He was active in providing care to underserved populations at the Hopeland Clinic, which ceased operations in 2000. Each year, Hopeland Clinic treated 10,000 adults and 3,000 children.
Sarabia shared with his family and friends a love of the arts, natural sciences, travel, literature and good food. He had a prodigious appetite for knowledge and was never too far from a book. He enjoyed baking and regularly treated his family to homemade bread and pastries. A sharp wit with a great sense of humor, he was a fan of political satire and Monty Python.
He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He also was a Fellow of the American College of Abdominal Surgeons. Dr. Sarabia retired from medicine in 2006.
Sarabia’s remains have been donated to the Boonshoft School of Medicine Anatomical Gift Program. He is survived and greatly missed by his wife of 61 years, Trudy; four daughters; a son; six grandsons; two sisters; and many nieces and nephews.
Boonshoft School of Medicine mourns loss of Mary Frey, Ph.D.
Mary Anne Bassett Frey, 84, of Dayton, passed away on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. She was born to John E. and Frances E. (nee Walker) Bassett in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 15, 1934. She was a member of the Center for Spiritual Living.
Mary Anne earned her B.A. in Physics in 1969, and Ph.D. in Physiology from George Washington University in 1975, and her M.B.A. from Florida Institute of Technology in 1984. She most recently worked at Wright State University School of Medicine, and was professor emeritus in the Aerospace Medicine Program. For 18 years, Dr. Frey worked with the U.S. human space-flight programs (NASA). She was a program scientist for the Human Research Facility of the International Space Station; program manager for the Space Physiology and Countermeasures Program; and was program manager for the Neurolab Spacelab Mission, which flew in 1998.
Dr. Frey was a consultant for National Institutes of Health National Center on Minority Health and NASA Bioethics Task Force. Dr. Frey worked for many years to encourage minorities and women in scientific careers and created the Frances E. Walker Fund at George Washington University for Women in Physics. She was an active member of Aerospace Medical Association, American Physiology Association, American College of Sports Medicine, International Academy of Astronautics, and Association for Women in Science. Dr. Frey’s honors and awards include her Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Pi Sigma memberships; Louis H. Bauer Founders Award from Aerospace Medical Association; Honorary NASA Flight Surgeon awarded by Society of NASA Flight Surgeons; and the NASA Silver Snoopy Astronaut’s Special Award.
She enjoyed playing tennis and her Five Season’s team went to the National Championships twice. Mary Anne loved to travel and took her family on many amazing vacations.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Robert James Frey; daughter, Dr. Laura (Teri) Frey Horn; and kitties Chester and Chelsea. She is survived by her daughters, Dr. Pie Frey (Michael Lent) of Nederland, Colorado; Karen (Robert) Anderson of Waynesville, Ohio; son-in-law, James Horn of Roundhill, Virginia; grandchildren, Melissa Smith and Laura Anderson of Colorado, Ophia, Michelle, and Jameson Horn of Virginia; brothers, Dr. John E. (Kay) Bassett of Michigan, Stephen (Carolyn) Bassett of South Carolina; great grandchildren, Alexander, Anderson and Isaac; several nieces and nephews; dog, Prince.
Boonshoft School of Medicine mourns loss of Maurice Kogut, M.D., founding chair of pediatrics
The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine mourns the passing of Maurice (Maury) D. Kogut, M.D., who passed away on November 25, 2019. Dr. Kogut was the founding chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, serving in the position for 18 years. He was 89 years old.
Kogut graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn in 1948 and he earned a B.A. (1951) and an M.D. (1955) from New York University. He later joined the U.S. Air Force and spent two years as a pediatrician stationed at a base in Fukuoka, Japan, where he met and married June Wenzel, a schoolteacher from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, who taught at the same base.
In 1959, Kogut and his wife moved to Los Angeles, where he became chief resident in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Kogut later became a fellow in pediatric endocrinology and joined the full-time faculty at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. At the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and USC School of Medicine, Kogut was program director of the Clinical Research Center (1968-1979), head of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism (1968-1980), and associate chairman of the Department of Pediatrics (1975-1980).
In 1980, he became professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Wright State University School of Medicine (1980-1998) and the medical director of the Children’s Medical Center (1980-1997), in Dayton, Ohio.
In 1998, Kogut retired from his positions in Dayton, and he and his wife moved to Centerville, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, to be closer to their three daughters. Soon after their move to the Cape, Kogut was appointed to the faculty of Boston University School of Medicine and taught first- and second-year medical students through 2017. He was nominated by his first-year students to win a teaching award, and was delighted by this recognition.
Over the years, Kogut was a member of several test committees of the National Board of Medical Examiners and also served on several test committees of the American Board of Pediatrics. In 2007, the National Board of Medical Examiners selected Kogut to receive the Edithe J. Levit Distinguished Service Award, recognizing his more than 20 years of outstanding volunteer service as a member and chair of many committees. He received numerous teaching awards throughout his career.
In addition to his wife, children, and grandchild, Kogut is survived by his sister-in-law Kathleen (Kitty) Kogut, his sister-in-law Leah Van Buskirk, and his nieces and nephews and their families. His older brother, Stanley Kogut, preceded him in death. He was very grateful for the care and company provided by Dean Sennett and Elizabeth Loiselle in his final years.
