Thomas Van Ness Ballantine ’63

TAD BALLANTINE died on New Year's Day 1990 in Hershey, Penn., when his car skidded on ice and slammed into a utility pole. He was returning from morning rounds at Penn State Univ. Hershey Medical Center, where he was chief of pediatric surgery. He was 47.

Tad prepared at the Roxbury Latin School. At Princeton, he was a member of Quadrangle Club and was president of the chapel choir. His roommates were Ted Mann and Chuck Henderson. He graduated magna cum laude in biology.

Tad's father and both grandfathers were both physicians, so it was no surprise that he entered Harvard Medical School after Princeton. He was a resident at Boston City Hospital and the New England Deaconess and Children's Hospitals. He also served in the Navy as surgeon in a Marine field hospital in VietNam. In 1975 he was appointed asst. professor of surgery at Indiana Univ. Medical Center in Indianapolis. He moved to the Hershey Center ten years ago, and in 1985 was named professor of surgery and pediatrics at Penn State Univ. "Dr. Ballantine was an exceptional individual," said Dr. C. M. Evarts, dean of the college of medicine. "He was not only a superb physician, but a caring individual who provided the very best for each and every one of his patients."

Tad was also a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Pediatric Surgical Assoc. and the British Assoc. of Pediatric Surgeons. He was president of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. His departure will be deeply felt by the many charitable organizations he served, as well as his many hundreds of young patients and their families.

Tad leaves his wife of 24 years, Martha Tyson Ballantine, his daughter, Allison, and his son, Thomas '92. His parents, Dr. and Mrs. H. Thomas Ballantine '33, also survive him. The Class of 1963 expresses to them its profound feeling of loss and most heartfelt sympathy.