Ronald C. Fuerstner ’57
Ronald C. Fuerstner ’57, M.D.,passed away peacefully May 26 from Parkinson’s disease and cancer at his home in Carmel, California. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and moved to San Francisco, where he graduated from Lowell High School. At Dartmouth he majored in zoology, belonged to Gamma Delta Chi, and was a three-year member of the ski patrol. He earned his M.D. in 1964 from the University of Basel in Switzerland, where he met Brigitte, who became his wife for 56 years. He completed his internship at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon, and then joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a medical officer on a hospital ship and troop transport during the Vietnam War. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University. In 1973 he launched his private practice and joined the staff of Community Hospital of the Monterey (California) Peninsula (CHOMP), where he practiced for 43 years. He was respected by his peers for his exceptional clinical skills, quiet leadership, medical ethics, integrity, and selflessness. No one could go far on the Monterey Peninsula without meeting a patient, former patient, nurse, or colleague who knew and loved him. He served on the boards of CHOMP, the Monterey County Medical Society, and Planned Parenthood and was a frequent delegate to the California Medical Society, which he also served for 20 years as a member of its medical review and advisory committee. He is survived by Brigitte, three children, and seven grandchildren.
