Stephen Van Deventer Chandler M.D.

Stephen Van Deventer Chandler, MD

AGE: 79 ? Bridgewater

Stephen Van Deventer Chandler, MD, 79, died Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011, at Somerset Medical Center after a seven year battle with leukemia. He leaves his two sons, Eric and Mark Chandler; his daughter, Dawn Chandler; his brother, John Chandler; four grandchildren; and many close friends.

Born and raised in Hackensack, New Jersey, he attended Phillips Andover Academy, graduating in 1949, then Harvard University, earning a bachelor degree in biology in 1953. It was at Harvard where he met his wife of 53 years, Marion Howe Wilson. The two moved to New York City where Stephen attended medical school at Columbia University and then completed his internship and residency in pathology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center. Stephen then moved his family to Oklahoma, where he served two years (1962-64) in the US Army as Chief of Pathology at the Main Hospital at Fort Sill. After his discharge, the Chandlers moved back to New Jersey, eventually settling in a home on Foothill Road, Bridgewater, where they remained for the next 43 years. A true lifetime learner with boundless interests, Stephen was perfectly suited for the intellectual rigors of medicine and specifically pathology. He was a member emeritus of the American Medical Association, the College of American Pathologists, and the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, as well as an associate clinical professor emeritus of pathology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. As an active member of the medical staff at Somerset Medical Center, Stephen served as chairman of the hospital ethics committee and remained involved with the hospital long after his retirement. In backpacking, Stephen was able to combine a love of the outdoors with a passion for physical activity. He spent many weekends on sections of the Appalachian Trail, often accompanied by Marion, his children and, upon becoming an Assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 88, any number of Boy Scouts. In his later years Stephen traded in his hiking boots for a tandem bike, on which he and Marion saw much of the US and Europe with friends. After the loss of Marion to breast cancer in 2007, he exchanged the tandem for a single bike, on which he was often seen riding, right up until his death, throughout Somerset County and beyond on his 40+ mile excursions. Stephen (and Marion, before her passing) eventually settled at Arbor Glen, where he continued to enrich the lives of those around him. A lover of fine wine, art and conversation, he was often seen at the community table at Arbor Glenn discussing and debating any number of subjects with friends, or speaking French, a language he continued to practice up until his final days. Stephen died peacefully surrounded by his two sons and daughter, in the hospital he served for nearly forty years.

Friends and family are invited to attend a memorial service at Arbor Glen (100 Monroe Street, Bridgewater) on Saturday, March 5, 2011, at 3 PM. Arrangements by the Bruce C. VanArsdale Funeral Home, Somerville. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Somerset Medical Center Foundation, 110 Rehill Avenue, Somerville, New Jersey 08876 or the American Cancer Society, 600 First Avenue, Raritan, New Jersey 08869. To send condolences to the family, visit www.brucecvanars dalefuneralhome.com