Dr. Elliott M. Marcus, 78, of Jamaica Plain, passed away from complications of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma at Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday, July 25, 2011. Dr. Marcus was an emeritus Professor of Neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a former Professor at Tufts Medical School. Born in Bridgeport, CT to Bessie and Kalman Marcus, he was valedictorian of the Danbury High School class of 1950. He was a scholarship student at Yale and graduated magna cum laude with distinction in psychology in 1954. He graduated in 1958 from Tufts Medical School, where he was a junior member of Alpha Omega Alpha. He received postgraduate training in medicine at Yale (Grace)New Haven Hospital and in neurology, neuropathology, and neurophysiology at Tufts New England Medical Center and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. His major interest was in the teaching of neuroscience and neurology. He established the neuroscience teaching program at Tufts. In 1976 he moved to UMass Medical School and to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester, where he organized an academic neurology service. After his retirement in 1998, he continued to teach neurology to students and residents. He received numerous teaching awards at Tufts and UMass and published many research papers in the field of epilepsy. He co-authored four neuroscience textbooks with his dear friend, Dr. Stanley Jacobson. He was the founding president of the Mass. Neurological Association in 1978 and served as MNA president again in 1995-1997. He was an active member of the American Neurological Association, the American Epilepsy Society, and the American Academy of Neurology and organized the AAN’s annual “Neurology at the Movies” session. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Nuran Turksoy-Marcus, his daughter, Dr. Erin N. Marcus, his brother, Dr. Robert L. Marcus, his son-in-law, Dr. David Letson, his grandchildren Zachary and Amelia, and numerous relatives in the U.S., Turkey and Canada. He loved sailing, reading about history, exploring archeological sites in Turkey and Greece, and sharing amusing anecdotes with family and friends, preferably over a good meal. We will all miss his great wit and generous spirit.
Dr. Marcus’ family thanks the wonderful nurses, therapists, physicians and other staff at Mass. General and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospitals who cared for him in his final year of life. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to any of the following: 1. Elliott M. Marcus Grand Rounds Lecture Fund, c/o UMass Med School Development Ofc, 333 South St., Shrewsbury, MA 01545, Tel. (508) 856-6515; 2. Elliott M. Marcus Neurology Lectureship & Teaching Fund, c/o St Vincent Hospital Education & Research Fund, Room 2194, 123 Summer St., Worcester, MA 01608, Tel. (508) 363-6156; or 3. Mass. General Hospital Phillips 21 Nursing Education Fund, tel. 617-726-2200.
A celebration of his life will be held at Tufts University’s Goddard Chapel at noon, Sat., Sept. 17, 2011.