Frederick K. Cressman, Jr. '54

Frederick K. Cressman, Jr. '54 died January 10, 2010.
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Frederick K. Cressman, JR., M.D.

                Once again, it is my task to report the death of another member of the Phi Gam delegation of the Class of 1954. Fred Cressman died on January 10, 2010 of respiratory failure after a lengthy siege with Parkinson's Disease. He was the third member of our group to have battled Parkinson's, Marty Seham and Doug McCormick having predeceased him.

               Fred came to Amherst from Souderton, PA and prepared for college at Penn Charter. Although Fred was an English major, he was one of five of us who went on from Amherst to attend MedicalSchool. His interests as an undergraduate were diverse—his athletic participation included cross country, tennis and wrestling. He sang in the Glee Club, and was in the band and also was active in WAMF and the Christian Association.

Fred graduated from HahnemannUniversityMedicalSchool in Philadelphia and trained in Pathology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. There, he met his wife, Elizabeth Pahk Cressman, M.D., an anesthesiologist. Together, they moved to Louisville, KY in 1975 where Fred became Director of Pathology at AudubonHospital, a position he maintained until retirement in 1999. Elizabeth has described him as a gentleman and a scholar who loved music and good books. He also contributed several articles to the medical literature. 

               Fred and Elizabeth were well known patrons of the arts in Louisville and donated large sums to the University of Louisville to found the CressmanCenter for Visual Arts and to SpeedArt Museum.  Amherst was not forgotten: besides Fred's generous support of the Alumni Fund, they also established the Elizabeth P. and Fred K. Cressman, Jr. Class of 1954 Scholarship Fund

               In addition to his wife, Fred is survived by a cousin, Kathleen Delcamp.

 Henry Tulgan ’54