Dr. George Saxton Jr.

WEST SAND LAKE Early Christmas morning, December 25, 2005, Dr. George A. Saxton Jr. died peacefully in the arms of his wife Anne, the sweetheart he had married 59 years ago. His family had celebrated Christmas together on December 23 and 24 at his home in West Sand Lake, N.Y. At this gathering, he had said, I want to give a toast to all who are gathered here. It takes all of us together to get through life's hard times. I am grateful we have each other because in the end that's all we have. We, his family, will miss him. He had a great sense of humor. He spoke his mind. He led us on many adventures and world travels. He did all this in spite of the highs and lows of bipolar disorder. In recent years, he suffered from Parkinson's disease, but on Christmas morning he simply stopped breathing. George leaves behind his beloved wife, Anne K. Sage Saxton, and four children, daughters, Nathalie Saxton de Perez of West Sand Lake, Melinda White Bronson and her husband Leman Bronson of Burlington, Vt. and Holly Heyman and her husband Richard Heyman of West Sand Lake, and a son, George O. Saxton and his wife Amy of Arlington, Va. He leaves eight grandchildren, Amalia, Joshua and Omar Perez Saxton and Nathaniel, Gavin and Henry White, and Katrinka and Vaimoana Heyman. He leaves a brother, David Saxton and his wife Susan of York, Maine, as well as sisters-in-law, Mary S. Shakespeare of Brookline, Mass., Barbara Barus Marshall and her husband James Marshall of Swarthmore, Pa. and Dorothy Sage of Peace Dale, R.I. A Quaker since adolescence, George was passionate in working for world peace and social justice. He was a founding member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, for which he shared the Nobel Peace Prize. He was a World Federalist and member of the UN Association. Recently, he has taught the Alternatives to Violence Project in prisons in the Albany area. George graduated from the George School in 1940 and from the wartime accelerated program at Harvard College and Medical School in 1946. He served in the Army Air Corps until 1949, studying the effects of atomic radiation on the human body and blood oxygen saturation in Army pilots. He then studied at the Mayo Clinic one year, taught at Peter Bent Brigham and worked in the heart catheter lab in Boston, Mass., one year, and then taught cardiopulmonary medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago, 1952-59, working with polio patients with respiratory involvement. George brought his enormous curiosity and inventiveness to his medical work, doing early research on blood oximeters, artificial heart pumps and valves and positive pressure respirators. He recognized the power of preventive medicine after observing the effects of the Salk polio vaccine and changed his focus from curative to preventive medicine. He believed that, by bringing medical care to a developing country, the increase in well-being would help prevent the need for war. He also wanted to broaden his children's view of the world. In a gigantic act of faith, he quit his job and returned to school, studying preventive medicine and public health at Harvard, 1960-62. He had no idea where he and his wife and four children would end up. Then, in 1962, the Rockefeller Foundation hired him to teach at Makerere College, University of East Africa, in Uganda. Funding from Planned Parenthood International, the American Friends Service Committee, the Pathfinder Fund and Makerere allowed him to work in Uganda until 1971. He also helped the UN High Commission on Refugees to assess the nutritional status of Sudanese refugees, and he found funding for refugee education. Since his return to the U.S. in 1971, he has practiced and taught medicine in Worcester, Mass., Wilmington and Brattleboro, Vt., University of Illinois, Chicago and in the New York Capital District. His wife Anne often worked with him. They focused on maternal and child health, planned parenthood, the delivery of medical care to underserved areas, the elderly and the uninsured. They received the Margaret Sanger award in 1976. A memorial service in the manner of Friends (Quakers), and in the care of the Albany Friends Meeting, will be held in the community hall of Westminster Presbyterian Church, on 85 Chestnut Street, Albany, on February 12 at 2 p.m., followed by a reception at the church and a bonfire at his home in West Sand Lake. All are welcome. George donated his body for medical research, so interment will be delayed. Gifts in memory of Dr. George Saxton may be sent to Albany Friends Meeting, 727 Madison Ave., Albany, NY 12208. Please indicate whether you would like your donation to go to the Alternatives to Violence Program, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the American Friends Service Committee or Planned Parenthood.