Glen Lillington Obituary

Dr. Glen A. Lillington Whose passion for teaching, writing and speaking about medicine influenced countless medical students and practitioners, died peacefully at his Menlo Park home Saturday, May 7. He was 84. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and always proud of his Icelandic Canadian heritage, Glen was an internationally recognized expert in pulmonary critical care disease. He was Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of California (Davis) and Emeritus Clinical Professor of Medicine Stanford University. He also served recently as ombudsmen at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic, where he began his long medical career in 1960. He received a BS in science and his MD from the University of Manitoba, where he won many scholarships and prizes and participated in a huge range of activities, from sports (hockey, football and soccer), to glee club, and especially, singing. From high school onward he performed in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, choirs and barbershop quartets and had an abiding love of grand opera. He did a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in internal medicine and an MS at the University of Minnesota there. While there he met his wife, Ellen Place, a nursing student. They married in 1957 and moved to California in 1960 after he was offered a position at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic. He also taught at Stanford until he had the opportunity to move to full time teaching as a professor of medicine at UC Davis in 1973. Upon retirement in 1994, Glen and Ellen moved to Menlo Park, where he returned to clinical teaching at Stanford and also took on his ombudsmen role. Glen authored an influential textbook on chest diseases that has been translated into several languages, and wrote nearly 200 journal articles during his long career. His clear, elegant and often amusing writing style led to many medical journal board appointments and he particularly enjoyed doing short editorials, often recalling a personal experience or medical history anecdote. Described by the Wall Street Journal as the nation's "unofficial curator of medical humor", Glen was also a repository of medical jokes and brought a joyful sense of fun to his lectures and hospital rounds. His warmth and compassion made him popular with generations of students, colleagues, and patients. He won many awards and honors during his distinguished career including the California Medal from the California Lung Association (1995). Glen's former resident and UC Davis colleague Dr Samuel Louie said of Glen: "A generation of colleagues, physicians and professors has learned from Glen Lillington. A Professor for All Seasons, his important and pioneering accomplishments in the discipline of chest diseases are enhanced through his natural gift to teach young physicians the expertise necessary to provide consultation, and to bring a smile to a patient's face with his delightful bedside manner." He is survived by sisters Claire Burns (Robert) of Modesto and Barbara Williams (Roland) of Winnipeg; wife Ellen; daughter Karlin (Chris) of Dublin, Ireland, sons Peter of Placerville and Barry (Dawn) of Fairfax; and grandson Zachary. Memorial contributions may be made to the 'Glen Lillington Pulmonary Endowment' at UC Davis, 4150 V St., Suite 3100, Sacramento, CA 95817 or the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. A private celebration of his life will be held at a later date.

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Published by San Francisco Chronicle from May 12 to May 13, 2011.

Memories and Condolences
for Glen Lillington

9 Entries

May 21, 2011

Dr. Lillington was a gentleman physician, who was wise and compassionate and a terrific teacher. it was a pleasure to work with him and learn from him while i was on faculty in Stanford University. Every day i remember his good humour and his remarkable bedside manner which made breaking bad news to patients so gentle. Glen was a true expert in his field and his self -deprecating style disguised a keen intellect and a wisdom which is simply not taught in today's medical schools. I cherish the times Glen and his family hosted me in Menlo Park and the Californian style hospitality shown to me. Glen will be missed, but he remains in my heart and in my thoughts and prayers. I know he's in heaven delivering one-liners and smiling down on us.
John L. Faul MD Dublin Ireland.

Violet Anderson

May 18, 2011

May 15, 2011

Dear Family and friends of Dr. Glen A. Lillington, Esq.,

I send my utmost compassion in your loss of this remarkable man. My name is Violet Anderson. I would like to take this time to share a story of how this remarkable man and his most gracious wife, Mrs. Ellen Lillington, touched my life. I am just a simple person and I would like to take the liberty to represent the thousands of people who were given grace by these two individuals.

My sister Connie, was very ill. With precious time ticking she was taken to doctor after doctor and no one seemed to be able to determine what was ailing her. Dr. Lillington's son, Peter, advised me to call the fine doctor and get his opinion on the matter. I took the advice and called Dr. Lillington. After asking as to her symptoms, he was shocked and appalled that she had been so misdiagnosed and he told me to take her to the nearest hospital as she needed immediate surgery. 911 was called and surgery was performed. The primary surgeon said that she would not have survived another forty-eight hours without said surgery. So, over the phone, repeat, over the phone, he saved her life with his diagnoses and gave us another two years to come to grips with the nature of her illness and to put matters in order, thus enjoying what precious time we had left with her.

To say "thank you," is just never enough when it comes to matters of the heart, and Mr. and Mrs. Lillington, being the gracious people that they are, kept in touch with me, and allowed me the latitude to express my thankfulness, and also gave advice as I struggled through this time. Oh how I tried not to be a pest! Dr. Lillington had such a great sense of humor and actually made me laugh; truly laugh, when laughter knew no quarter.

On a different note, Dr. Lillington, being of Icelandic/Canadian heritage was descended from a long arm of ancient Viking descendants. The Vikings would document their heritage in what was know as 'Sagas'. Often the sagas would defer to normal squabbles between neighbors, but the sagas also dictated their 'tilt' on religion. It was said that if a warrior who was brave and true, he would ascend into Valhalla where he, with his fellow warriors would, paraphrasing, "Fight all day and feast all night" and be cared for by the beautiful Valkyries for all eternity. Without seeming blasphemous, this is my personal wish for the fine doctor for warrior, brave and true he certainly was as attested to by: being a warrior in an unquenchable search for knowledge, true by his steadfast treatment of colleagues, patients and family, and brave in the sight of every facet he faced along his journey as a gifted medical professional.

Dr. Lillington advised me through my time of turmoil and said that all life is a simple circle. There is a beginning, a middle to become who you want to be, and a time for all life to end. He advised me to grieve, but just for a short while. He said that the importance to be rendered is to greatly treasure those who are lost and remember how they had touched and shaped one's life and be thankful for that, be thankful for that touch, for the dearly departed would never want one to grieve but to ascend in the light that was given as a gift by knowing them and being touched by them.

Thank you for your time to tell my one story of the thousands that exist about this about these two fine people; Dr. Lillington and Mrs. Ellen Lillington. I will forever be grateful for all of their attention and kindness.

Most sincerely,
Violet Anderson

Debra Wechter

May 16, 2011

I clearly remember Dr Lillington from the days when we learned about egophany and whispered pectoriloquy on exam, and the spectacle sign and silhouetting on chest x-ray, all before the advent of chest CT scans. We spent hours learning to interpret pulmonary function tests, and also developed our clinical skills at the bedside with mentors such as Dr Lillington. We became expert at finding symptoms and then at the subtleties of exam, making diagnoses with interlocking pieces of information like a jigsaw puzzle. It was a different era, but one that forms the foundation of my medical career.
My condolences to the Lillington family. May you find strength in your memories and shared love...
With sympathy and respect,
Debra G Wechter
UC Davis Medical School 1976-1980

Paul Miller

May 15, 2011

My thoughts are with Dr. Lillington's entire family -- as a medical student and resident at UCD in the late 70s and early 80's, he could always be relied upon for pertinent teaching delivered with style and humor. He was an important influence for a generation of medical students and residents, not only for his clinical skills, but for what he taught about the art and humanity of medicine.
UCD School of Medicine 1979
UCD Internal Medicine Residency 1982

May 14, 2011

Sympathy And Condolences To Mrs. Professor Glen A Lillington MD And Family.

Professor Glen A Lillington's Interpretation Of Medical Professionalism Stands Worthy Of Emulation.

Under His Aegis As A Medical Student, I Came To Understand Patient Care As An Ongoing And Evolving Decision-Making Process Of Systematically Gathering And Synthesizing Disparate Patient Information, Both Objective/Subjective And Internal/External.

With Deep Appreciation For All Your Sharing,

Eileen F Chun
Member, Class Of 1980
UC Davis School Of Medicine
Sacramento, California

The Lillingtons

Karlin Lillington

May 14, 2011

Thank you so much for these wonderful posts remembering my father. We only would have had occasional glimpses of his working and teaching life -- as that is where he disappeared off to each day! -- so they give our family a different and lovely perspective. We have so many great memories of him and these kind reminiscences will be added to them and have given all of us a smile at a difficult time.

George Palma

May 13, 2011

Bye Glen. You taught me how to read a chest x-ray in all it's splendor. You showed me how to treat colleagues, staff and trainees with respect. You were a wonderful clinical doc.
You will be missed.
UCD School of Medicine Class of 1978

michael cohen

May 12, 2011

I took one of my first clinical electives with Glen Lillington. I was second year at UC Davis. We had one morning a week at an outpatient specialty clinic for each quarter. I went to his clinic once a week for a while and shadowed him. I thinnk it might have been the public health Tb clinic. He taught me that the way to diagnose early liver toxicity from the Tb drugs was based on loss of appetite and nausea from the smell of food. "Ask them if they can look a square meal in the face" he told me. It was so simple and clear and right on target I have always remembered him for that.

Mark Blum

May 12, 2011

Dr.Lillington was one of the most influential and approachable attending physicians during my Internal Medicine Internship and Residency at UC Davis. I still vividly remember a case in which he provided incredible consultation. We had a young lady on service with absolutely intractable bronchospasm; no matter what we tried she remained hypoxic and dyspneic. Several Pulmonary consultants declined to perform bronchoscopy because of her persistent hypoxia and reluctance to intubate her. We finally were able to present the case to Dr.Lillington who was unfazed by her situation. He performed a rigid bronchoscopy and removed a hamhock bone from the right mainstem bronchus, after which her symptoms resolved rapidly. In retrospect the patient then recalled having choked while eating ham shortly before the onset of her symptoms. Dr.Lillington then pointed out to us the bone opacity overlying the bronchus which we had all (Radioogists included) missed on the plain film (this was in the pre-CT era). Many years later, while attending a lecture by Dr. Lillington at Kaiser Sacramento, he presented the x-rays and history of his hamhock bone case. I was delighted to be able to share the memory with him.
My condolences to Dr. Lillington's family for your great loss.
Mark Blum, MD
IM Residency, UC Davis, 1974-1977

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