Conrad Andrew Kawel Jr. ’47

Connie Kawel died of cancer Feb. 24, 1995, in Livonia, Mich. He came to Princeton in the Navy's V-12 program in 1943. Under the Navy's aegis, he took the science courses which prepared him for his post-war study of medicine at the Univ. of Michigan, where he earned his M.D. degree in 1949. In 1950, he married Shirley Ann Rankin.

Connie was recalled to active duty in the Navy for two years during the Korean War. For one year, he was on sea duty as a lt. in the Navy's medical depts. When the war ended, he completed his surgical residency at Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Connie and Shirley settled in Livonia, where until illness forced him to retire,Connie was engaged in what he described as a "comfortable, suburban-type surgical practice." For his last seven years, his son, Conrad III, joined him in practice, a practice to which he devoted three or four days a week, with plenty of time for gardening, photography, and Detroit Tigers ball games. He frequently expressed his gratitude to Princeton for introducing him to the humanities.

The Kawels had six children, Conrad, John, Karen Koss, Kathleen Rahrig, Mary Traynoff, and Theresa Gorter. To them, and to Shirley, the class extends its profound sympathy.

The Class of 1947