H. Harris Funkenstein ’61

THE CLASS of 1961 lost one of its most beloved and respected members when Dr. H. Harris Funkenstein died in a drowning accident May 4, 1990, at Miami Beach.

Born in Jacksonville, Fla., Harris was a Nail. Merit Scholar from Newton (Mass.) High School, graduated summa cum laude from Princeton in philosophy, and received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1967, and joined its staff in 1975, after finishing neurological training at Mass. General Hospital.

Harris was a principal investigator in an important study on the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease. Indeed, his last days were spent discussing the disease at a professional meeting in Florida.

At the time of his death he was on the staff of Brigham and Women's Hospital, a director of the Learning Disabilities Clinic at Children's Hospital, and an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. As a teacher of neurology, he was much beloved and esteemed by students and residents.

His family, friends, colleagues, and patients will keenly miss Harris's warmth, gentleness, wisdom, and good cheer. To his wife, Karen, his daughter, Amy, his brother, Dr. Daniel L.'64, and his parents, Dr. Daniel H. and Hannah Bessie Funkenstein, we extend our deepest sympathies.