Joseph F. Rorke ’39

“Dr. Joe,” as he was affectionately known, died June 4, 2013, at his home at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz.

After graduating from Princeton, he attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, earning his medical degree in 1943. He served in the Navy as a lieutenant junior grade in the medical corps.

Dr. Joe met architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1956, became his personal physician, and attended the residential community of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. In the late 1950s, he became the first physician to open a private medical practice in Scottsdale.

Dr. Joe was also an avid stamp collector who narrowed his scope to the two-cent stamp of 1863, generally referred to as the “Black Jack” due to its portraiture of Andrew Jackson, and became a “one-stamp” collector. This collection went on to win the American Philatelic Society’s Champion of Champions in 1982.

From 1985 to his death, Dr. Joe served his community by publishing a weekly newsletter called The Whirling Arrow, which served as a comprehensive chronicle of current and historical Frank Floyd Wright Foundation events and stories, providing a prime showcase for his sparkling wit and deep intellect.

To his daughter, Shawn, and two grandchildren, the class extends its sympathy.