John E. Deitrick Jr. ’62

John died Sept. 25, 2015, in Northumberland, Pa., of complications from a lengthy battle with multiple forms of cancer.

John came to us from the Haverford School, where he was a heavyweight wrestling champion for three years in the competitive Philadelphia region. He majored in biology, played football for two years, and dabbled in lacrosse and track. A member of Tiger Inn, John roomed with Bill Bond and Phil Carlin in the Lockhart Lair.

He earned a medical degree at Cornell, did an internship and residency at its New York hospital, and then spent two years in the Air Force. Afterward, he did research at Cornell for a year.

John joined Geisinger Medical Center, an excellent facility in rural Pennsylvania, in 1975. After taking an administrative course at Harvard, he managed both surgery (as director from 1979 to 2001) and research at Geisinger. He was the first to perform laparoscopic general surgery at GMC in 1990.

While John’s illness started in 2004, he continued to scuba dive, sail, travel, and garden on his 80-acre homesite.

The class extends its condolences to his children, Kristina and John, and to his extended family. We lost a gentle giant and dedicated physician.