Dr. Kenneth H. Fye M.D.

A life-time resident of the Bay Area, a Professor of Medicine at UCSF, and honored as a Master Clinician by the American College of Rheumatology, died at age 67 on Sunday, March 28, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He achieved his goal of squeezing every last bit of life and joy out of the time his cancer gave him and died peacefully in the comfort of his own bed surrounded by loving and beloved family. He is survived by his loving wife Marilyn of Tiburon, CA, by daughters Katherine Sears of Fall City, WA and Cecelia Youngheim of Royal Oak, MI, by sons Marc and Kent Daniels of Tiburon and El Cerrito, CA, by four grandchildren, Kirtis, Taryn, Cordelia and Eli, and by his sister, Theresa Jones and her children Dena Trujillo and Quinton Jones of San Jose, CA.

A native of Fremont, Dr. Fye attended U.C. Berkeley, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and played on the varsity tennis team. He earned his M.D. at UCSF, completed internship at Harbor Hospital-UCLA, and returned to UCSF to complete residency in internal medicine and fellowship in rheumatology. Early in his career, Dr. Fye left his University post to pursue private practice in Marin County for 20 years before being recruited back to UCSF. According to Dr. Bill Seaman, a close colleague of Dr. Fye's at UCSF, "It is a little unusual for physicians to be recruited back to an academic center after so long in private practice, but Ken did not so much leave the University as take it with him into private practice. He always served on our volunteer clinical faculty, and he continued to write scientific reports of his observations of patients. Ken was such a talented and enthusiastic clinical teacher that we always wanted him back and were happy when he finally rejoined us."

On his return, Dr. Fye worked as a Rheumatology Consultant at the UCSF and San Francisco Veteran's Administration Medical Centers. As reported by Dr. Art Weiss, Chief of the Division of Rheumatology: " What made Ken so effective as a teacher of medicine were his infectious enthusiasm, his breadth of knowledge, his ability to use evidence-based research to support his arguments, and his invariable focus on the needs of the individual patient. He was one of the first recipients of the Ira Goldstein Teaching Award, bestowed by our rheumatology fellows."

Dr. Fye conducted clinical research on osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthropathies and lupus erythematosus, publishing over 60 scientific papers. Dr. David Wofsy, a co-investigator in many of Dr. Fye's research studies, commented, "This output is remarkable for a physician who spent so much of his career in private practice and even when here, spent so much of his time as a clinician educator. He was even elected in the first group of seven 'Master Clinicians' named by our Department of Medicine, yet he found the time and energy to do first-rate clinical research."

In additional service to UCSF, Dr. Fye directed the volunteer clinical faculty and chaired the Medical School's Alumni Association. Among the many honors accorded by the University was his election as Alumnus of the Year in 1996. Among the honors accorded him by his patients was the endowment of the Kenneth H. Fye Distinguished Chair in Rheumatology in 2007.

Beyond the University, Dr. Fye was an active participant in local and national activities of the Arthritis Foundation, and was a fellow of the American College of Rheumatology, which elected him a Master of the College in 2008.

Another UCSF colleague of Dr. Fye's, Dr. Homer Boushey, also classmate in medical school, said of him, "Among Ken's most distinguishing characteristics was his capacity for caring. This capacity was well known within the walls of UCSF's hospitals and clinic but extended well beyond them. Just as examples, Ken sat long hours at the side of one friend with massive hemorrhage, stood by others when their daughter was pulled near death from a snow cave, and climbed down a precipice to rescue an unconscious stranger who had driven off a mountain road. Ken cared about teaching, especially at the bedside, where he was a model, mentor, and font of knowledge, but also through his devotion to the institution that makes the teaching of medicine possible."

Ken similarly applied the same energy, curiosity and enthusiasm to every aspect of his life. He was interested and curious about everything and everyone. He was a great athlete, an active and successful competitor in league play in the Northern California Tennis Association during his decades of active membership at the Marin Tennis Club. He was an award winning hobby winemaker-an activity he shared initially with colleagues and in later years with sons Marc and Kent-his wines winning a variety of medals at county faire competitions. A medical school classmate of Dr. Fye's, Dr. Edgar Clark of Portland, Oregon, noted that his academic curriculum vitae "does not do justice to Ken Fye the poet, essayist, winemaker, woodworker, fisherman, and open-armed friend."

He and his wife Marilyn shared a warm, loving and joyous 25 years of marriage. They travelled widely making life-long friends in China, Germany and Ireland. When they weren't traveling they shared quiet, private days at home reading in front of the fire.

He and Marilyn built a log home in Taylorsville in the Feather River country of California. In like manner, Ken invested himself fully in his mountain community by actively protecting ranch lands from over-development through his involvement in the Plumas County Feather River Land Trust. His many friends in Taylorsville knew Ken equally as a physician and outdoorsman, but mostly as a tried and true friend. An accomplished woodworker, Ken built much of the furniture for their cabin and Marin home. He spent many recent hours in his woodshop making mementos for friends and family leaving a physical legacy in addition to his personal legacy.

He was a proud father to his daughters Katherine and Cecelia, a great companion to his adult sons Marc and Kent and a devoted grandparent to his grandchildren Kirtis, Cordelia, Eli and Taryn. Most notable was his deep affection for his sister Theresa and her children Dena and Quinton-a special connection he honored by sharing annual holiday celebrations.

Ken was also an avid fly fisherman; he loved fishing on rivers and telling fish stories with friends throughout the West. Especially dear to him was fishing on Indian and Red Clover Creeks in the backyard of his mountain cabin. He enjoyed playing the guitar and loved playing and singing folksongs with his grandchildren. A history buff, poet and philosopher, he recently pursued his interest in ancient and Middle-ages history by compiling a collection of authentic period swords. "To tell you the truth, you can tell a lot about a culture by the swords they used."

A memorial event will be held at 2:00PM on Sunday, May 2nd at Robertson Auditorium, with a reception afterward at the Fisher Banquet Room, both in the William J. Rutter Center, UCSF's Mission Bay Campus, at 1675 Owens Street, San Francisco, CA 94158. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made to the Kenneth H. Fye Endowed Chair, UCSF Foundation, Attn: Olivia Herbert, 220 Montgomery Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco CA 94104, or to the Feather River Land Trust, 75 Court Street, P.O. Box 1826, Quincy, CA 95971.

A tribute website to Ken has been permanently established to celebrate his memory at http://tributes.com/KennethFyeMD/. Family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances are encouraged to contribute personal memories or thoughts, even in