IRMA MILLER LESSELL M.D.

Lessell, Irma Miller, MD A remarkable woman who enjoyed phenomenal success in several of her "lives", died last week at age 79. She was a Lexingtonian for 52 years. Married at 20 she was for 18 years homemaker and exemplary mother to four boys. During that time she became, among other things a superb chef and an avid cookbook collector (over 1500 volumes). At age 38 she fulfilled her dream, long delayed, of becoming a physician. As a student she excelled at every level and was only the third person ever to graduate summa cum laude from the Boston University School of Medicine. After completing her training in Neurology she joined the staff of the Lahey Clinic where she spent the next 19 years in the Department of Neurology specializing in Neuro-Ophthalmology and Pediatric Neurology. Her skill as a diagnostician was legendary. The patients loved her and her colleagues respected and admired her. In retirement she returned to her alma mater Wellesley and audited a large number of courses in subjects that she had not studied during her undergraduate years. Had they been taken for credit she had accumulated nearly enough for a second Bachelor's degree. It is unlikely that any of the undergraduates put in as much effort as Irma did. She bought every book that was mentioned and read them all. Our house has books everywhere including piles on the floor and on top of furniture. Irma became interested in fishing in mid-life and it became her main outdoor recreation. She fly-fished in fresh and salt water and also tied flies. During trips to her winter home in Florida she fished for large-mouth bass extensively in Lake Okeechobee and took up bird photography. She is survived by her husband Simmons, three sons, three grandsons and one grandaughter and her brother. Another son died in 1977. Services were private. Irma was unique.