Arthur Hess Ph.D.

Arthur Hess

AGE: 87 • Highland Park

Dr. Arthur Hess, born on February 19th, 1927 in the Bronx, New York and long-time resident of Highland Park, passed away at his home early on the morning of Jan. 5, 2015. Arthur was born to Annie and David Hess and had a brother named Melvin and a sister named Lillian, both of who passed away before him. He grew up going to local public schools until he received a full scholarship to the undergraduate program at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where he obtained a BS in 1946. He stayed an additional year and received an MS in 1947. He then moved to London where he became a PhD candidate under J.Z. Young (a prominent neuroscientist of his era) at University College London, receiving his PhD in 1949. His first professional appointments were as Instructor and then Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri from 1951-1961. While there, he met and married his wife Gloria Joy Tomsen and they had a son Doug in 1954. In 1956, Dr. Hess took a year-long sabbatical and returned to England with Gloria and Doug where he worked at Cambridge University and continued a life-long affinity for all things British. Upon returning to Washington University, he and Gloria had a daughter Elisa in 1958. In 1959, Arthur received the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) from University College London in recognition of a substantial contribution to scientific knowledge beyond that required for a PhD. Arthur and his family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1961 where he served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Utah College of Medicine until 1967. That year, they all relocated to NJ where he served as Professor and became the first appointed Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the newly formed Rutgers Medical School of Rutgers University (eventually renamed Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of Rutgers University). He remained chairman of the Department until his retirement in 1993. Throughout his career Dr. Hess contributed broadly to the neuroanatomy of both vertebrates and invertebrates, beginning with the first demonstration of nodes of Ranvier in the central nervous system in his thesis at University College London and with fundamental work on the organization of skeletal and extraocular muscle and carotid body chemoreceptors. Later at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School he worked on the pathology of Parkinson's disease. Arthur published over 80 scientific papers during the course of his academic life, including a 1986 article co-authored with his son Doug on the mammalian cerebellum. These accomplishments arose from the small laboratories he maintained at Washington University, the University of Utah and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and were funded principally by the National Institutes of Health. Throughout his career he organized and taught yearly courses required for medical students in neuroanatomy/neuroscience from which he derived great satisfaction. A year after retiring from the medical school, Arthur suffered a devastating stroke that left him with unilateral paralysis, dysphagia, impaired ability to read and wheelchair-dependent. After extensive rehabilitation and physical therapy at the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, he slowly regained the ability to speak clearly and with much persistence he taught himself to read again. His wife Gloria cared for him for several years until she began experiencing health issues herself. She then hired the first of many essential caregivers, most notably Myreta (Queeni) Hurst and subsequently Viviene (Viv) Hitchman who made it possible to keep Arthur at home where he was most comfortable. Sadly Gloria passed away in 2009 and Elisa left California where she had been for many years and moved in with Arthur at the Highland Park, NJ home he and Gloria had purchased in 1970. Elisa was with him for the last five and a half years of his life. Arthur continued to read voraciously, attend continuing education classes and study Spanish until his declining cognitive skills made it too difficult.

He loved to adventure and enjoyed many diverse outings with his wife and then his daughter and caregivers. He was intelligent, funny and kind and shared his contagious laugh and quick wit with all those around him. He had a strong will to live despite his disabilities and challenges and rarely complained, managing to maintain his sense of humor and sweet smile till the end. He died at home on Jan. 5, 2015 where he was surrounded by love. In turn, Arthur touched many people's lives and will be deeply missed. He is survived by his daughter Elisa Rossetti of Berkeley CA and son Doug Hess of Cleveland Ohio.