Dr. Martin David Tilson III

Dr Martin David Tilson, III, beloved father, grandfather, husband, and friend, passed away peacefully on October 4, 2024, at the age of 83. Born in Texarkana, Texas in 1941, Dr. Tilson lived a life marked by great achievement, adventure, and kindness.
He was Valedictorian of his class at Texarkana High School. After graduating summa cum laude from Rice University in 1963 he earned his MD at Yale in 1967 and stayed on at Yale to train in General and Vascular Surgery. After military service (1972-1974) he returned to join the faculty at Yale, and in 1985 he was promoted to Professor without term and Director of the Division of Vascular Surgery. In 1989, he was recruited by Columbia University to chair the Department of Surgery at its affiliated teaching hospital, St. Luke's/Roosevelt, which had merged to become the largest hospital in the USA operating under one charter. His laboratory, devoted to the genetics and pathobiology of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) moved with him. He was the recipient of two NIH grants and many honors. In 2010, he retired to become the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Professor of Surgery (Columbia University), Emeritus, at St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital Center. He continues to write scientific papers and give lectures to learned societies. At last count, his 80 papers on AAA have been quoted over 5,000 times according to Google Scholar. A recent honor has been the Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who's Who for his career as a "Surgeon, Scientist, and Teacher."
He is survived by two sons: William T. Tilson of Seattle, WA; John W. Tilson of Baltimore, MD; and two grandchildren, Joseph and Hanna Tilson, in Seattle.
A memorial service will be held at 12:00 PM on Friday, October 18, 2024, at the Texarkana Funeral Home, where family and friends are invited to celebrate his life. He will buried next to his father at Read Hill.