Charles Henry Classen ’34

Charlie, who practiced and taught pediatrics until he was 83, died of heart failure in his sleep Jan 10, 2003, in Bryn Mawr, Pa. The chief of pediatrics at Bryn Mawr Hospital for 10 years, he taught students and physicians at area medical schools and hospitals, including the U. of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Charlie was a past president of the Philadelphia Pediatric Society and of the Philadelphia Allergy Society.

"Treating the sick child," Charlie once wrote, "and the academics of medicine have been a challenge. I have enjoyed very much the family life with my wife and six children (two physicians). Tennis, squash, gardening, and trout fishing have been my main extracurricular activities."

Charlie's first wife, Adrienne Charles Classen, died in 1946. In 1950 he married Jeanne Crook, who survives, as does Charlie's brother, John '38. Also surviving are three sons, Scott, David, and Peter; two daughters, Beverly C. Cavitt and Anne C. Knutson; and 12 grandchildren. To them, we offer our sincere sympathies.

The Class of 1934