Robert Cushman Thomas ’52
Robert Cushman Thomas ’52, M.D., formerly of Amherst, New York, died on December 26, 2018, at Maplewood Skilled Nursing in Canton, New York. He was born in Rochester, New York, on June 17, 1929, and graduated from Brighton High School and from Dartmouth. At Dartmouth Bob graduated with a degree in medicine. He was a Rufus Choate scholar and Phi Beta Kappa and a member of Gamma Delta Chi and Alpha Kappa Kappa medical fraternity. He received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins Medical School, and then spent nine years as an officer in the Navy. He then worked for the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in Buffalo, New York, while maintaining a private practice as a thoracic and cardiac surgeon. He participated in the VA program to develop and test the first implantable heart pacemakers. He was also chief of surgery at Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital. After retiring he kept busy as an instructor with the Coast Guard Auxiliary, teaching sailing, celestial navigation, and the use of a sextant. He was always ready to tow fellow boaters stranded in the upper Niagara River. He was an avid skier and volunteered in the adaptive skiing program at HoliMont in Ellicottville, New York. He is survived by children Susan, Robert Jr., and Glenn; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Adrianne, son David, and brother Charles.
