Raymond Waldron Latham

Raymond Waldron Latham, MD, 88, passed away October 18, 2003, at his home in Mission Hills, KS, with his family. A memorial service will be held at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 6630 Nall Ave., at 11 a.m. on October 22, 2003. A reception will follow in the church parish hall. He will be interred at Forest Hill Cemetery during a family service. The family suggests contributions to Children's Mercy Hospital, Saint Michael and All Angels Church or Saint Luke's Hospital Foundation. Ray was born in Pomeroy, IA, on January 28, 1915, to Orval Ray Latham and Helen Waldron Latham. Following high school in Cedar Falls, IA, he received his premedical education at the State University of Iowa, where he also was a member of the varsity track team and president of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He received his medical degree at Harvard Medical School in 1940. In 1943, Ray joined the Army Air Corps, serving three years as a Flight Surgeon with a troop carrier squadron. While preparing for overseas duty, he met and married his wife of 59 years, Arline Downs of Sedalia, MO. Following overseas duty in France and Germany and the end of the war, Ray and Arline settled in Prairie Village, KS, where he practiced pediatric medicine for 46 years, retiring in 1991. He continued his professional career doing part-time work as a pediatric consultant to the Missouri Regional Office of Disability Determinations until 2002. Some of his many contributions to the field of pediatric medicine in the Kansas City area included serving on the faculty of The University of Missouri at Kansas City Medical School and The Kansas University Medical School; President of Staff at Children's Mercy Hospital; Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at St. Luke's Hospital; and staff member at St. Mary's Hospital. He promoted insurance coverage for infants less than three months of age while he was a member of the Board of Blue Cross and Blue Shield. He was also instrumental in establishing a Level III Intensive Care Nursery at Saint Luke's Hospital. Ray is survived by his wife, Arline of the home; two sons, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) James D. Latham (Sue) of Fort Worth, TX, and Dennet W. Latham (Claire) of Lake Oswego, OR; a daughter, Janice Latham Ward (Larry) of Olathe, KS; a sister, Shirley Rinder (George) of Burr Ridge, IL; and seven grandchildren, Minde Latham Wheeler (Travis), Kendra and Brecke Latham, Erin Ward Edwards (Luke) and Jeff Ward, and Michelle and Nicole Latham. (Arrangements: D.W. Newcomer's Sons Johnson County Chapel, 11200 Metcalf, 913-451-1860)