Richard M. Lehman ’59

Dick died Nov. 20, 2022, at his home in Kiawah Island, S.C., with his wife, Sylvia, and other family at his side. 

Born in Philadelphia, he attended William Penn Charter School for his grade school education, excelling academically, playing varsity football, and winning the Philadelphia city wrestling championship. A pre-med major at Princeton, he ate at Ivy and played rugby, transferring to Temple Medical School at the end of his junior year seeking a career in neurosurgery.

Dick served in the Army National Guard during a residency at Temple; then in 1967 he did a fellowship at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill with a special interest in surgery for seizure disorders. He practiced at Hahnemann Medical School until 1972 when he moved to Williamsport, Pa., to establish his own private practice.

Interests in running and mountain climbing led to completion of the Boston Marathon and the ascent of Denali in Alaska. Multiple trips to Alaska resulted in a move to Anchorage in 1980, where he established a neurosurgical unit. In 1990, he returned to McGill on sabbatical to study movement disorders (Parkinson’s and epilepsy). He returned to “The Lower 48” with a professorship at Rutgers in 1991 and retired in 2006.

Dick is survived by his wife, Sylvia; his brother, James; sister Suzanne; three children; six grandchildren; and two step grandchildren. The class extends its sympathies to the family.