Timothy Stone Harrison

HARRISON, Timothy Stone 83, Rumford, RI, Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Molecular Physiology, Pennsylvania State University, died peacefully at home on July 21, 2010. Timothy S. Harrison was born July 13, 1927 in Kodaikanal, India. His father, Paul Wilberforce Harrison, was a noted medical missionary in the Middle East from 1912-1953. Harrison was raised in Oman until age 12, attending boarding school in Kodaikanal, followed by high school in Holland, Michigan. His mother, Regina Rabbe Harrison, died in 1929; his step-mother was Anna Bilkert Harrison. Harrison graduated from Hope College, Holland, Michigan in 1949, following service in the United States Navy (1944-1946). A surgeon and endocrinologist, he received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University (1953), and was a surgical resident there (1953-56). As a research fellow at Harvard Medical School/ Massachusetts General Hospital (1956-57), where he worked with Oliver Cope, and later at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (1959-60), Harrison developed a permanent scientific interest in endocrine physiology. Harrison was Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor (1962-1975), and later Professor of Surgery and Molecular Physiology at Pennsylvania State University's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (1975-1994), Hershey, PA. Harrison's primary scientific interest was catecholamine physiology, an area in which he remained active throughout his career. He later pursued interests in goiter disease and surgical practice internationally, authoring a text for low-resource settings, Surgery for All. Harrison maintained a lifelong interest in the Middle East and South Asia, pursuing research, teaching and exchange in the region. From 1968-71, he was Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, American University of Beirut. Later, he was Visiting Professor of Surgery, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan (1985-1987), and a Surgeon with the Ministry of Health, Sultanate of Oman (1990-94). Harrison loved, and often sang, the music of J.S. Bach, and was an avid runner and tennis player. His love of literature and poetry were reflected in a dry and whimsical humor, which he used to offer spontaneous quips and elegant recitations from memory. Harrison is survived by his wife of 49 years, the former Eliza Middleton Cope; two daughters, Abigail DeNormandie Harrison and Emily Cope Harrison; sons-in-law Mark N. Lurie and James R. Boyd; and a grand-daughter, Leah Cope Harrison-Lurie, all of Rumford, RI, as well as Madaline B. Harrison, Charlottesville, VA, and several nieces and nephews. Also surviving him are a sister, Dorothy Harrison, Portland, OR; step-sisters Barbara Mulder of California and Margaret Lemmer of Holland, MI; and step-brother Monteith Bilkert, Kalamazoo, MI. His brothers, Clinton R. Harrison and Paul W. Harrison, Jr., and step-sister Virginia Koop pre-deceased him. The family will receive friends at home in Rumford on Monday July 26 from 4-7 pm (further details at www.cheethammortuary.com) In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, www.hhcri.org or tel: 401-415-4200.