South Strafford, Vt. —
Rick graduated from Lincoln High School in Ferndale, Mich. and attended to the University of Michigan where he received his MD degree in 1961 and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He trained in General Surgery at the University of Michigan Hospitals and was certified by the American Board of Surgery in 1967. After his residency, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan and remained in that position until military service interrupted his academic career. Rick served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and at the 67th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon, Republic of Vietnam.
Following his military service, Rick began a practice of surgery at the York Hospital in York, Maine. He served as Chief of Staff at York Hospital until he accepted a surgical position at the White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic in Hanover, N.H. In 1987, Rick relocated to the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich., where he worked in organ transplantation and participated in the initiation of a clinical program of liver transplantation. In 1994, he returned to the Upper Valley and rejoined the WRJ VaMC and the D-H Clinic. Rick served as Chairman of the Department of Surgery from 1996 until his retirement in 2008.
Rick had a profound impact on Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center as a transplant surgeon, as chair of surgery from 1996 to 2008, and as a professor of surgery at Dartmouth (now Geisel) Medical School. Under his leadership, DHMC was awarded the Organ Donation Medal of Honor by the Department of Health and Human Services for its sustained efforts in achieving high donation rates.
A widely respected professor, Rick directed the general surgery residency program for the medical school and DHMC from 1995 to 2004. He was a 2005 recipient of the Parker J. Palmer “Courage to Teach” Award, which is given by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. This is one of the most prestigious awards in graduate medical education and recognizes directors of residency programs who demonstrate their commitment to education through successful mentoring, program development and program improvement. During his career, the Accreditation Council on Medical Education also recognized Rick as a John and Mary R. Markle Scholar in Academic Medicine, and the New England Surgical Society honored him with the Nathan Smith Distinguished Service Award in 2008.
Rick had a daughter and son from his first marriage, and three daughters with his beloved wife, Sasha. In addition to Sasha and his children, he loved teaching residents, biking, skiing, restoring antique Lotus race cars, and working on their horse farm where he was especially devoted to a sequence of remarkable dogs and to his sweet mule, Knicker.
Memorial donations may be made to the Grafton County Fish & Game Assoc., 153 Trues Brook Rd., West Lebanon, NH 03784, where Rick enjoyed trap and skeet shooting. He was especially interested in supporting the association’s goal of developing an improved clubhouse to keep members warm during the colder months.
Rick was predeceased by his wife Sasha, his parents, and his son Richard. He is survived by his brother, Stephen Dow of Lake Tahoe, Nev.; four daughters, Kirstin Dow of Columbia, S.C; Sarah Quade of Burke, Va.; Rachel Dow of South Strafford, Vt.; Rose Knaus of Lyme, N.H.; three sons-in-law, C. Andy Miller, Chris Quade, and Darin Knaus; and five grandchildren, Allison and Megan Quade and Wyatt, Ellie and Henry Knaus.
A remembrance will be held on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017, at 2 p.m. in the Round Barn (with sand floor) at 36 Redden Road, South Strafford, Vermont.