In Memory – June 5, 2025

Paul Leroy Dieterlen

Dr. Dieterlen (Ohio State ’57), 92, Avon, Indiana, died May 3, 2025. From 1991 until 2007, he worked for the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, retiring as the director of its Meat and Poultry Inspection Division. Earlier, Dr. Dieterlen co-owned Nappanee Veterinary Hospital, a mixed animal practice in Nappanee, Indiana. Active in organized veterinary medicine, he was a past president of the Indiana Board of Veterinary Medicine and Indiana VMA. Dr. Dieterlen supported Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine as an adviser and via mentorship of its students. He also served two terms on the local school board.

In 1985, Dr. Dieterlen received Indiana’s Sagamore of the Wabash Award for his service and leadership. His wife, Janet; a son and two daughters; two grandchildren; and a brother and a sister survive him. Memorials, with the memo line of the check notated to the Saturday Lunch Ministry, may be made to Plainfield United Methodist Church, 600 Simmons St, Plainfield, IN 46168.

Kent P. Frydenlund

Dr. Frydenlund (Minnesota ’77), 72, Richland Center, Wisconsin, died February 26, 2025. In 2013, he established what is now known as Pine River Veterinary Clinic in Richland Center. Following graduation, Dr. Frydenlund practiced in Homer, New York, and in Wisconsin at Colfax and Westby. He subsequently founded Richland Veterinary Service in Richland Center.

Dr. Frydenlund is survived by his wife, Alice; a son and a daughter; and seven grandchildren.

Gerald A. Hegreberg

Dr. Hegreberg (Oklahoma State ’61), 87, Cypress, Texas, died May 2, 2025. Following graduation, he served as a first lieutenant in the Army, stationed for two years in Edgewood, Maryland. Dr. Hegreberg subsequently practiced in Minot, North Dakota. After earning a doctorate in veterinary pathology in 1968 from Washington State University and completing a fellowship in pathology at the University of Washington, he served on the veterinary faculty of Washington State University until retirement in 1991.

Dr. Hegreberg is survived by his wife, Dr. Lynetta Freeman (Oklahoma State ’81), also a veterinarian, and his sister. Memorials may be made to Oklahoma State University Foundation, Panciera Pathology Education Endowment Fund, 400 Monroe St., Stillwater, OK 74074.

John ‘Jack’ Paul O’Mara

Dr. O’Mara (Georgia ’70), 88, Ellicott City, Maryland, died May 7, 2025. He was the founder of Dunloggin Veterinary Hospital in Ellicott City. Dr. O’Mara also founded and served as president of Elkridge Emergency Hospital, now located in Catonsville, Maryland. He was a past president of the Maryland Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and Maryland VMA (MVMA). In 2010, the MVMA honored Dr. O’Mara with the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. He is survived by his wife, Judith; a son and a daughter; two grandchildren; and two brothers and a sister.

Robert Harryman Pierson II

Dr. Pierson (Kansas State ’58), 92, Canandaigua, New York, died May 4, 2025. He owned Genessee Valley Equine Clinic in Scottsville, New York, prior to retirement in 1996.

Following graduation, Dr. Pierson served in the Army Veterinary Corps. He subsequently practiced in Spencer, Indiana. Dr. Pierson then worked at the newly established veterinary college at Purdue University as an instructor. He went on to serve as resident veterinarian for a broodmare farm in upstate New York, where he helped expand its breeding program before establishing his own equine practice.

An avid marathon canoe racer, Dr. Pierson was a lifetime member of what is now known as the New York Paddlesports Racing Association and participated in the General Clinton Canoe Regatta and Adirondack Canoe Classic races. He is survived by his wife, Nancy; a son and a daughter; seven grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

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.