Herbert M. Giffin ’31

Born in 1909, Herb, a retired surgeon, died on Dec. 23, 1999, at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC, of a heart ailment. He was born and lived in Atlantic City until he finished college. His early schooling was at Atlantic City H.S.

At Princeton, he won the Baker Memorial Scholarship, the University "B" scholarship, was manager of the Princeton Travel Bureau, was a member of the executive committee bureau of student employment, and was treas. and manager of Gateway Club. Following graduation, Herb enrolled at John's Hopkins, receiving his MD in 1935. Herb continued his training until 1937, when he went to the Mayo Clinic as a fellow in surgery. He then became first assistant at the clinic, a post he held until he entered the Navy in 1942, where he served as a medical officer aboard the cruiser Columbia, and later practiced general and thoracic surgery at the US Naval Hospital in Philadelphia until his discharge in 1947. He then joined the Yater Clinic.

Until he retired in 1997, he was medical director and board chair of the Yater Clinic. He held teaching appointments at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and the Veterans Administration Hospital, and was a clinical professor at George Washington and Georgetown U. He also served on the staffs of Sibley Memorial Children's, Suburban, Arlington, and Washington Hospital Center.

Surviving are three children, Claire Lee Giffin Shumaker, Charles, Robert, and 11 grandchildren. The class extends its deepest sympathy to the entire family.