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Margaret Ann Storkan, 1919-2000
152 In memoriam
J AM ACAD DERMATOL JANUARY 2002
Margaret Ann Storkan, 1919-2000 It is with much sadness that I report the passing of Margaret Ann Storkan. She died at her home in Redondo Beach, California, on Dec 3, 2000. A graduate of Creighton Medical School, she received her dermatologic training at the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of Minnesota and was a clinical professor of dermatology at USC. She was a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Dermatological Association. Margaret was a devoutly religious woman, a friend and admirer of Mother Teresa, and in keeping with the tenets of her beliefs willingly served in enterprises designed to improve the lot of the unfortunate among us. Her office in Redondo Beach, a short walk from the shores of the Pacific Ocean, was a dermatologic beehive during her active years, and yet she repeatedly found ways to put her practice on hold for 2 months at a time to serve aboard the SS Hope, the famous mercy ship that constituted the efferent arm of Dr William B. Walsh’s humanitarian “Project Hope.” From 1962 to 1972 Margaret served 7 hitches on SS Hope, mostly on missions to South America. She was the only dermatologist aboard, and the task of acquainting the local physicians at the ports of call with the latest diagnostic and therapeutic advances in cutaneous medicine and adapting them to the limitations of developing countries fell entirely on her shoulders. It was not an easy job, but those who knew Margaret were not surprised to learn that she handled it with consummate ease. Her willingness to take on difficult tasks that offer no material compensation was also evident in her decade-long manage-
ment of USC’s large and busy leprosy clinic, located then in San Pedro, California. I practiced with Margaret for several years in the 1970s and was impressed with her diagnostic acumen and her extraordinary ability to deal expeditiously with large numbers of patients, all of whom left the office convinced that they had been dealt with individually as someone special. A conservative therapist, she particularly enjoyed the surgical aspects of dermatology, for which she had a special flair. Margaret was also greatly interested in dermatologic history. She was a founding member of the History of Dermatology Society. A knowledgeable bibliophile, she accumulated a sizeable collection of antiquarian books on skin diseases, which she graciously donated to the Rare Book Room at the USC medical library. Margaret was petite, barely 5 feet tall, even shorter in her later years. She was a warm, caring, outgoing, friendly woman, universally like and admired. She never married and is survived by her brother-inlaw, 4 nieces, and a nephew. When examples of crass medical commercialism leap out at us from the media as, sadly, they now so often do, we are reminded that we need more physicians cast in the mold of this remarkable woman. John T. Crissey, MD San Marino, California J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;46:152. Copyright © 2002 by the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. 0190-9622/2002/$35.00 + 0 16/8/119200 doi:10.1067/mjd.2002.119200
J AM ACAD DERMATOL JANUARY 2002
Margaret Ann Storkan, 1919-2000 It is with much sadness that I report the passing of Margaret Ann Storkan. She died at her home in Redondo Beach, California, on Dec 3, 2000. A graduate of Creighton Medical School, she received her dermatologic training at the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of Minnesota and was a clinical professor of dermatology at USC. She was a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Dermatological Association. Margaret was a devoutly religious woman, a friend and admirer of Mother Teresa, and in keeping with the tenets of her beliefs willingly served in enterprises designed to improve the lot of the unfortunate among us. Her office in Redondo Beach, a short walk from the shores of the Pacific Ocean, was a dermatologic beehive during her active years, and yet she repeatedly found ways to put her practice on hold for 2 months at a time to serve aboard the SS Hope, the famous mercy ship that constituted the efferent arm of Dr William B. Walsh’s humanitarian “Project Hope.” From 1962 to 1972 Margaret served 7 hitches on SS Hope, mostly on missions to South America. She was the only dermatologist aboard, and the task of acquainting the local physicians at the ports of call with the latest diagnostic and therapeutic advances in cutaneous medicine and adapting them to the limitations of developing countries fell entirely on her shoulders. It was not an easy job, but those who knew Margaret were not surprised to learn that she handled it with consummate ease. Her willingness to take on difficult tasks that offer no material compensation was also evident in her decade-long manage-
ment of USC’s large and busy leprosy clinic, located then in San Pedro, California. I practiced with Margaret for several years in the 1970s and was impressed with her diagnostic acumen and her extraordinary ability to deal expeditiously with large numbers of patients, all of whom left the office convinced that they had been dealt with individually as someone special. A conservative therapist, she particularly enjoyed the surgical aspects of dermatology, for which she had a special flair. Margaret was also greatly interested in dermatologic history. She was a founding member of the History of Dermatology Society. A knowledgeable bibliophile, she accumulated a sizeable collection of antiquarian books on skin diseases, which she graciously donated to the Rare Book Room at the USC medical library. Margaret was petite, barely 5 feet tall, even shorter in her later years. She was a warm, caring, outgoing, friendly woman, universally like and admired. She never married and is survived by her brother-inlaw, 4 nieces, and a nephew. When examples of crass medical commercialism leap out at us from the media as, sadly, they now so often do, we are reminded that we need more physicians cast in the mold of this remarkable woman. John T. Crissey, MD San Marino, California J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;46:152. Copyright © 2002 by the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. 0190-9622/2002/$35.00 + 0 16/8/119200 doi:10.1067/mjd.2002.119200