Fred H. Linthicum Jr.

Died

July 2, 1921 - January 1, 2020 Frederick Hamilton Linthicum, Jr. passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on New Year's Day. A native Angeleno, Fred graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1940 and both Pomona College and the University of Southern California School of Medicine in 1946. He interned at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles in 1947. Following a motorcycle accident that broke his wrist, Fred was unable to write up histories and physicals. He asked a student nurse, Jean Louise Wolverton to help – and she became his wife and life-long companion. Upon finishing his service as a Captain in the US Army Medical Corps in 1948, Fred completed a residency in Otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from 1949-1952. During this period, he engaged in six months of study at Kantonsspital with Professor Ruedi in Zurich, Switzerland. He would continue to treasure the friendships made and time spent in Zurich for the remainder of his life. Following completion of his medical studies, Fred practiced for a short period of time with his father before helping to establish the Otologic Medical Group (later the House Ear Clinic) in Los Angeles in 1958. Internationally recognized for his decades of medical work, Fred's interest in sensorineural hearing loss and temporal bone histopathology led to establishment of the Eccles Temporal Bone Laboratory within the LA Foundation of Otology (later the House Ear Institute and currently the House Histopathologic Temporal Bone Laboratory at UCLA). Fred was also passionate about mentoring future generations of scientists; he played a major role in training post-doctoral physicians from around the world at the House Ear Institute. After many years of balancing his clinical and research activities, Fred gave up his clinical practice in 1986 to focus full-time on laboratory work. He authored over 300 scientific papers and won numerous national and international awards for his contributions to medicine. Fred retired at the age of 96 from his work as a Clinical Professor of Head and Neck Surgery at USC Medical School and a Professor in Residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Fred and Jean lovingly raised a family of two sons and a daughter in Malibu. An avid fisherman, "Papa Fred" spent summer vacations fly fishing with his family throughout the western states and introduced several grandchildren to fishing in the Florida Keys. Fred and Jean loved to travel for medical conferences, making good friends throughout the world. Fred will be remembered for his many contributions to medical science, his generosity and kindness, and for his dry sense of humor. His wife Jean and daughter Janet preceded him in death. He is survived by a brother Stephen, sons Fred and Philip and their wives, and five grandchildren.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Published on: 18-01-2020