Dr. Lawrence Mathers taught anatomy at the Stanford University School of Medicine for more than three decades. He passed away in February 2007.
The following material was lifted from his SFGate obituary written and researched by San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Carrie Sturrock:
Born in San Francisco in 1945, Dr. Mathers earned his undergraduate degree at Stanford and later returned for his doctorate in anatomy in 1971. Save for two years at the University of Wisconsin, he worked his entire career at Stanford. During that time he not only received 14 major teaching awards, but also went on to earn his medical degree in 1982 from Stanford and trained in pediatrics, neonatology and pediatric intensive care.
As an anatomy teacher, Dr. Mathers would honor the cadavers in the dissection lab with a moment of silence to pay tribute those who had donated their bodies to science. Outside the classroom, he was known as an excellent musician and would play the piano in the Stanford Hospital atrium -- everything from classical to swing -- to create a soothing environment for patients, said Frankel.
Dr. Mathers' wife of 30 years, Mildred Jones-Mathers, died in 2002. He is survived by his stepchildren, Doug Jones, Mark Jones. and Beth Jones.
Contributions may be made in Dr. Mathers' memory to the Emerald Glen Home, a residence facility for developmentally disabled adults, at 1101 Wolbert St., Hayward, CA 95241; the Stanford Department of Anatomy Gift Fund at 326 Galvez St., Stanford, CA 94305-6105; or the Stanford Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Gift Fund at 326 Galvez St., Stanford, CA 94305-6105.
"Your warm and caring personality, your perseverance through loss, your chalkboard illustrations, your piano playing with your eyes closed like my dad, the way you could hold a 1 kg preemie like a delicate feather and make it look so natural, your halfway grin at our fumbling lack of scalpel skills, the respect you instilled toward our patients (even the ones who have passed), the way you dispensed encouragement -- I'll always miss these things.”
This quote from a former student probably isn’t a surprise to those of us who knew him even back in the day.
Larry was also a gentle giant at Burton Park. He was the first of us would-be-ballplayers to master the curveball. He had a devastating, pants soiling, roundhouse curve in youth baseball summer leagues and also played a few seasons at Carlmont on the freshman or frosh-soph teams, as I recall, before taking his leave to embark on bigger and more important things. (SGM)
Pete Hadreas
Larry Mathers died at the age of 62, on February 21, 2007. An obituary was written by Carrie Sturrock in the SF Chronicle (3/9/2007). As Carrie Sturrock, Chronicle staff writer, states: "Lawrence Mathers, [was] a teaching legend at the Stanford University School of Medicine who taught anatomy to nearly 30,000 students over more than three decades . . . . 'Larry was the most humble, honest and gentle kind of person you would want to meet,' said Lorry Frankel, chief of the intensive care unit at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital. The students revered the man.'"
Sturrock continues, "Dr. Mathers earned his undergraduate degree at Stanford and later returned for his doctorate in anatomy in 1971. Save for two years at the University of Wisconsin, he worked his entire career at Stanford. During that time he not only received 14 major teaching awards, but also went on to earn his medical degree in 1982 from Stanford and trained in pediatrics, neonatology and pediatric intensive care.?"
I only saw Larry once after he graduated from Carlmont. He was about twenty. I think he had just transferred to Stanford. But because we were part of the same jazz band in high school-- he played drums and I played piano -- and we rehearsed a lot, I got to know him well while at Carlmont. Then Larry was quiet and had a stutter problem. He was devoted to his surrogate mother, Mildred Jones, and her youngest child, Beth, who was a Downs syndrome child. I remember Mildred Jones said once, 'Larry never stutters when he's talking to Beth." She also said that Larry had told her that wanted to dedicate his life to helping children like Beth.
He did just that. I'm proud to say I knew him way back when.
Peter Hadreas
Carolyn Pettit (Winters)
My sister also worked in Anatomy at Stanford and I used to visit her there.I was surprised to find that she worked with Larry. I was also surpirsed to learn that he played guitar. I wish I could have sung with him.
Kim Pettit