Dr. Dean Baker Ellithorpe

Dr. Dean Baker Ellithorpe passed away on February 19, 2014 at his home in New Orleans, LA, at the age of 77. Dr. Ellithorpe was a native of Birmingham, AL and was preceded in death by his life partner, Michael P. Bascle of Bourg, LA, his father, Dean Adelbert Ellithorpe, mother, Mary Currie Ellithorpe Dearborn and step-father John Gorman Dearborn, all of Birmingham, as well as his brother Robert Ellithorpe. He is survived by immediate family niece, Lauren Ellithorpe Blackwell (Paul), nephews, Robert Ellithorpe (Debbie), and Charles Ellithorpe (Linda), sister-in-law Nancy Ellithorpe Sanders (John), step-sister Annie Lou Dearborn Holton (Tom) and their children, Beth Holton Davis (Cody), Luanne Holton Sanders (Joey), Ruth Holton Spencer (Hank), Catherine Holton, and Tom Holton, Jr., many great-nieces, nephews and cousins, Cynthia Threadgill, cherished family friend for his 77 years, as well as his partner's family Richard "Dickie" and Sharon Bascle, and their sons Lesley and Derek Bascle and their families, all of Bourg, LA, and caregivers Candace Bayer and John Bray. He is also survived by many wonderful long-time friends not to mention numerous co-workers from his family of 50 years at Tulane Medical Center. His immediate family were long-time members of The Church of the Advent in Birmingham, AL. Dr. Ellithorpe received his M.D. degree from Tulane University School of Medicine after studies at Tulane and The University of the South at Sewanee, TN. It was during the Pediatric clerkship in medical school that he was introduced to the topic of Cystic Fibrosis by Dr. Will Waring. After medical school, he completed his Internship and Internal Medicine residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and Fellowship in Pulmonary Diseases at Tulane. During the mid-1960s, he served as an Internal Medicine physician with the U.S. Air Force. He had been a member of the Tulane Pulmonary Diseases Section faculty since completing that training and was on the Medical Staff at the Tulane University Hospital and Clinic since it opened in 1976. In 1993, the Pulmonary Diseases Section established the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program and Dr. Ellithorpe became its first Director. He resumed that position after Hurricane Katrina and was most recently it's Associate Director. He was board certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Diseases, was a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Chest Physicians, and was a member of the American Thoracic Society. His clinical interests included cystic fibrosis, infectious lung diseases, tuberculosis, asthma and general pulmonary diseases. In 2012, he celebrated 50 years of service at Tulane. His legacy will live on as he set up generous testamentary gifts benefiting both the School of Medicine at Tulane and the University of the South at Sewanee. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a visitation on Saturday, March 15, from 2 to 4pm followed by a short memorial service at 4pm at the Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70124. Interment will be scheduled sometime later in March or April with the rest of the Ellithorpe family at the Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, AL. An additional notice will be posted when those details are finalized. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Tulane University, with a memo note designating the donation to the "Dean Ellithorpe Lectureship Fund". Please contact Charlene Esteves at 504-988-3541 to request the exact mailing address.