Stephen A. Feig ’59

Steve, professor emeritus of pediatrics at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, died Nov. 30, 2022. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Judy Bergman Feig; children Laura ’86, Dan ’87, and Andrew; and five grandsons, Zach ’18, Ricky ’22, Teddy ’25, Joe Radel ’24, and Sam. Of those offspring, all but Andrew (Yale ’90) and his son Sam are Princeton alums, as are the spouses of Laura (Jon Radel ’85) and Dan (Trina ’87 — along with her three alumnae sisters, children of our ’59 classmate Dick Morrison).

Born in New York City, Steve prepared for Princeton at Manhattan’s Ethical Culture Fieldston School. A member of Terrace Club, he was on the staff of WPRB. His biology department thesis was an experimental lab on hematology with Hirsh Barmatz. After earning a medical degree from Columbia, Steve did his pediatric residency at Mount Sinai, his military service as the Navy pediatrician at the Port Hueneme Seabee hospital near Los Angeles, and a fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital. He joined the UCLA medical faculty in 1972 and began his life’s work in teaching and research in cell metabolism and bone-marrow transplantation for children with blood diseases and cancer, retiring after 40 years in 2016. 

A habit of joking with his patients by calling them “turkeys” led to his nickname as “Dr. Turkey” and an extensive collection of turkey memorabilia.