Henry Thomas Ballantine Jr. ’33

Tom Ballantine died Apr. 14, 1996, in Boston after an extended illness.

Tom prepared for Princeton at Shattuck Military Academy. At Princeton he was on the swimming team and belonged to Quadrangle Club. He roomed with Pat Bernuth and Bill Young and with Dave Richardson senior year.

Tom received his MD degree from Johns Hopkins in 1937. His surgical training, which began at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, was interrupted by his Army tour, which began in 1941. He served in North Africa and Italy until his discharge in 1946 with the rank of lt. colonel.

Tom returned to Mass General, where he practiced medicine for the rest of his career. He was on the neurosurgical staff from 1949-92 and on the clinical faculty of Harvard medical school from 1949-82. He was widely known for his pioneering work on the use of focused ultrasound on brain tissue and on surgical techniques for treating psychiatric illness.

Tragedy entered Tom and Liz's life when their son Tad '63, himself a distinguished surgeon, was killed near Hershey, Pa., returning from a house call on New Year's Day 1990.

Tom and Liz added greatly to our classmates' Harvard weekends with the wonderful arrangements they made year after year.

Tom is survived by his wife and daughter, Elizabeth E., and three grandchildren including Thomas T. '92. He will indeed be missed.

The Class of 1933