In Memory – April 10, 2025

Nathalia Adams

Dr. Adams (Texas A&M ’69), 81, Overbrook, Oklahoma, died January 8, 2025. She practiced mixed animal medicine in Denton, Texas. Dr. Adams also operated free spay and neuter clinics. She raised dairy goats, sheep, and Quarter Horses. Dr. Adams is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and two brothers.

Dellalene M. Baker

Dr. Baker (Oklahoma State ’63), 89, Denison, Texas, died February 19, 2025. Following graduation, she was in mixed animal medicine in Ponca City, Oklahoma, for seven years. Dr. Baker then established Grayson Equine Clinic in Denison, where she practiced for 28 years. Her husband, Pat McCormish, and a sister survive her. Memorials may be made to the Denison Animal Welfare Group, 3307 S. Eisenhower Parkway, Denison, TX 75020.

Dianne F. Barr

Dr. Barr (Missouri ’86), 65, Gladstone, Missouri, died November 13, 2024. A small animal veterinarian, she most recently practiced at Parkville Heights Animal Hospital in Parkville, Missouri. Dr. Barr also volunteered with the Lakeside Nature Center. She is survived by her mother, a sister, and two brothers. Memorials may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Donor Services, P.O. Box 22324, New York, NY 10087; Friends of Parkville Animal Shelter, 1356 MO-9, Parkville, MO 64152; or Friends of Lakeside Nature Center, 4701 E. Gregory Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64132.

George Wesley Beran

Dr. Beran (Iowa State ’54), 96, Ames, Iowa, died January 29, 2025. From 1973-99, he served on the faculty of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where he taught veterinary public health and epidemiology. During that time, Dr. Beran also served as a Fulbright exchange professor at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria. He retired from Iowa State as a distinguished professor of veterinary preventive medicine.

Following graduation and after earning his doctorate in 1959 in medical microbiology from the University of Kansas, Dr. Beran was an epidemic intelligence officer with the U.S. Public Health Service and taught for more than a decade at Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Philippines. While at the university, he headed the agricultural program, directed the university farm, founded public health laboratories, developed a vaccine to stop a cholera epidemic, and led a rabies irradiation program. For his efforts, the university awarded Dr. Beran an honorary doctorate and he was made an adopted son of the Philippines. In retirement, he helped found ISU’s R. Allen Packer Heritage Room, a museum of historical veterinary medicine.

During his career and later, Dr. Beran served as a consultant for the World Health Organization, traveling worldwide in that capacity. He edited the 1st and 2nd editions of the “Handbook of Zoonoses” and served on the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods. A diplomate and past president of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Dr. Beran chaired the AVMA Council on Public Health, was a past president of what is now known as the American Veterinary One Health Society (AVOHS), and was a member of the Iowa VMA. He received several honors, including what is now known as the Zoetis Distinguished Veterinary Teacher Award in 1975, AVOHS’s Karl F. Meyer–James H. Steele Gold Headed Cane Award in 1993, AVMA Public Service Award in 1999, and what is now known as the AVMA Global Veterinary Service Award in 1996.

Dr. Beran is survived by his wife, Jan; two sons and a daughter; six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and a brother and a sister. Memorials may be made to Northminster Presbyterian Church, 1416 20th St., Ames, IA 50010; Northcrest Heartwood House, 1900 24th St., Ames, IA 50010; or Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine Scholarships, 1800 Christensen Drive, Ames, IA 50011.

C. Gary Bullard

Dr. Bullard (Georgia ’69), 79, Powder Springs, Georgia, died March 9, 2025. In 1972, he founded Bullard Animal Hospital in Austell, Georgia, where he practiced for more than 44 years. Dr. Bullard also provided veterinary services to the Austell and Cobb counties’ police K-9 units. Earlier in his career, he served in the Air Force as chief of veterinary services.

Dr. Bullard was a past president of the Georgia State Board of Veterinary Medicine, Georgia VMA (GVMA), and Greater Atlanta Veterinary Medical Society. He was a past chair of the AVMA House Advisory Committee; served on the AVMA Legislative Advisory, Political Action, State Advocacy, and Veterinary Leadership Conference Planning committees; and was Georgia’s alternate delegate and delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates.

He received several honors, including the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995 and its Distinguished Service Award in 2003, the GVMA Veterinarian of the Year Award in 1998 and J.T. Mercer DVM Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, and the AVMA President’s Award in 2010. Dr. Bullard was also honored by the Cobb County VMA for his achievements.

Active in his community, he served as chair of the South Cobb Division of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce and was a past president of the Austell Rotary Club. Dr. Bullard is survived by his wife, Brenda; a son; two grandchildren; and a sister.

John M. Cunningham

Dr. Cunningham (Iowa State ’70), 79, Elkader, Iowa, died October 31, 2024. He began his career in Elgin, Iowa, where he established Valley Vet Clinic, a large animal practice. In 1987, Dr. Cunningham moved to Nebraska and joined Norden Labs in Lincoln as a veterinary field services specialist. He later worked for Pfizer in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. In semi-retirement, Dr. Cunningham traveled to England to study foot-and-mouth disease and to California and West Virginia to investigate Newcastle disease. Throughout his career, he was also active in the efforts to eradicate pseudorabies. Dr. Cunningham was a member of the Iowa VMA. His wife, Dawn; two sons; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren survive him.

James C. Franzek

Dr. Franzek (Cornell ’67), 82, Buffalo, New York, died December 4, 2024. He was the founder of Lancaster Small Animal Hospital in Bowmansville, New York, where he practiced for 37 years. Dr. Franzek served on the board of directors of the Western New York VMA and Niagara Frontier Veterinary Society. His wife, Mary; two sons and three daughters; and five grandchildren survive him.

Suzanne Ruch Jenkins

Dr. Jenkins (Pennsylvania ’66), 84, Midlothian, Virginia, died March 8, 2025. Prior to retirement in 2005, she served as Virginia state public health veterinarian and directed the Division of Zoonotic and Environmental Epidemiology for the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). During her tenure, Dr. Jenkins also served for a period of time as acting state epidemiologist and acting director of the VDH Office of Epidemiology. Since 1990, she was an adjunct professor in the Department of Pathobiology at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

Active in organized veterinary medicine, Dr. Jenkins was a past president of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV), an honorary diplomate of what is now known as the American Veterinary One Health Society (AVOHS), and a member of the Virginia VMA (VVMA). Known for her expertise on rabies, she served as a consultant on the disease and chaired the NASPHV Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control. Dr Jenkins received several honors, including being named the VVMA Distinguished Virginia Veterinarian in 1994 and Veterinarian of the Year in 2005, awarded the AVOHS’s Karl F. Meyer–James H. Steele Gold Headed Cane Award in 1998, and honored with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists’ Pumphandle Award in 2005. In 2005, she also received the Virginia Commissioner’s Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Jenkins is survived by her husband, Arnold Wexler, MD; two daughters and a stepdaughter; and the families of her children. Dr. Jenkins’ stepdaughter, Dr. Lynn Schmeitzel (Auburn ’81), is also a veterinarian.

James I. Klopfenstein

Dr. Klopfenstein (Colorado State ’73), 80, Fairdale, Kentucky, died October 2, 2024. He was the founder of Fairdale Animal Clinic. Dr. Klopfenstein is survived by 10 children; his grandchildren; and his siblings.

Leslie A. Personett

Dr. Personett (Colorado State ’80), 69, Binghamton, New York, died February 6, 2025. She was the co-founder of Fur and Feathers Veterinary Care in Binghamton. Dr. Personett is survived by her husband, Richard Seibel, and two siblings. Memorials may be made to the Broome County Humane Society, 167 Conklin Ave., Binghamton, NY 13903.

Joseph Bud Stuart

Dr. Stuart (Cornell ’55), 94, Santa Barbara, California, died December 2, 2024. During his career, he owned Little River Veterinary Clinic in Fairfax, Virginia, and Fairview Pet Clinic in Goleta, California; served as an instructor at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine; and directed the animal care facility at Georgetown University School of Medicine. With a special interest in animal nutrition, Dr. Stuart authored “Feeding Fido and Fluffy Too.” He was a veteran of the Air Force Veterinary Corps. Dr. Stuart is survived by his wife, Lynda, and his family.

Please report the death of a veterinarian to the AVMA News staff via a toll-free phone call at 800-248-2862, ext. 6754; email at newsavma [dot] org (news[at]avma[dot]org); or fax at 847-925-9329. For an obituary to be published, AVMA News must be notified within six months of the date of death.