Brendan V. McAdams Jr. ’58

Brendan V. McAdams Jr. ’58, M.D., passed away at his home in San Luis Obispo, California, on January 18 as a result of a melanoma that had progressed to his lungs. Ben majored in zoology, was a Phi Gam, and participated in the Newman Club. As a senior on the football team, he intercepted a pass in the final four minutes and set up the win against an unbeaten Holy Cross. He once said he was “subjected to an intervention by my roommates” (Joe Palermo, Dave Bradley and Al Gazzanaga), who encouraged him to improve his grades so he could be accepted at medical school. As a result, Ben earned his M.D. at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia and then specialized as an orthopedic surgeon. He spent 1968 and 1969 defending the country in a U.S. Air Force uniform and then settled in San Luis Obispo, where he had an orthopedics practice and volunteered for the local school board, a performing arts foundation, and the county EMT program. He enjoyed golf, white-water rafting, and skiing. In his words, “I have managed to keep in touch with several classmates, largely due to the reunions and mini-reunions and Bob Downey’s annual ‘Animal House’ gathering at Keystone.” Ben was an alumni interviewer for Dartmouth admissions for many years and a leadership agent for the Alumni Fund and reunion giving committee. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn (“Pat”), and four children.