In Memory – October 23, 2025

John S. Howarth

Dr. Howarth (Oklahoma State ’68), 82, Yucca Valley, California, died August 7, 2025. Following graduation, he served as a captain in the Army Veterinary Corps. Dr. Howarth subsequently established a practice in Simi Valley, California. In the mid-1990s, he moved to the Coachella Valley area of California, where he volunteered at local animal welfare organizations, including Animal Samaritans. He then joined Desert Dunes Animal Hospital in Bermuda Dunes, California, where he worked for nearly 25 years prior to retirement. Dr. Howarth is survived by his wife, Cheryl; three children and three stepchildren; four grandchildren; and a sister.

William James Mack

Dr. Mack (Michigan State ’70), 79, Granger, Indiana, died March 6, 2025. He co-owned Escanaba Animal Hospital in Chicago for 25 years, later serving 15 years as a relief veterinarian at the former New Prairie Small Animal Clinic in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. Dr. Mack is survived by his wife, Susan; three sons; and six grandchildren. One son, Dr. Brian Mack (Purdue ’00), is also a veterinarian.

Francis David Rausch

Dr. Rausch (Purdue ’70), 79, Greenwood, South Carolina, died July 28, 2025. He co-owned Animal Clinic of Plainfield in Plainfield, Indiana, prior to retirement. During that time, Dr. Rausch also co-established an emergency animal clinic in the Indianapolis area. He is survived by his wife, Linda; a son; two grandchildren; and a brother and a sister. Memorials may be made to the Humane Society of Greenwood, 2820 Airport Road, Greenwood, SC 29649.

Peter Allen Segall

Dr. Segall (Colorado State ’69), 82, Cairo, New York, died August 29, 2025. He worked more than 50 years at Hudson Valley Animal Hospital, a practice he owned in Central Nyack, New York. Dr. Segall is survived by his sister. Memorials may be made to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, P.O. Box 96929, Washington, DC 20090; American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Attn: Data Entry, 199 Water St. 11th Floor, New York, NY 10038; or Breakthrough T1D (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), P.O. Box 5021, Hagerstown, MD 21741.

David Lewis Sly

Dr. Sly (Minnesota ’69), 80, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, died April 9, 2025. A diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM), he served as senior laboratory animal veterinarian at the former SAIC-Frederick Inc. and as animal program director for the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, prior to retirement. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sly was director of laboratory animal medical and science at Meloy Laboratories in Rockville, Maryland; served as director of animal care, university veterinarian, and a professor of pathology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee; was an attending veterinarian at Nashville Fertility Clinic; and worked at Battelle Toxicology Northwest and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories in Richland, Washington.

Active in organized veterinary medicine, he served on several ACLAM committees and was a member of the American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners and American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS). Dr. Sly was also a member of the AALAS’ National Capital Area Branch and served as president of its Appalachian Branch. His son, daughter, three grandchildren, and a brother and a sister survive him.

Danielle L. Spencer

Dr. Spencer (Tuskegee ’93), 60, Bon Air, Virginia, died August 11, 2025. During her more than 25-year career, she worked in the Los Angeles area and in Richmond, Virginia, where she hosted a segment on pet care on a local television channel. A talented actress, Dr. Spencer began her career in show business as a child in the mid-1970s, starring in the sitcom "What’s Happening!!" and later in "What’s Happening Now!!" She also appeared in television specials, including "The Brady Bunch Special," and "Christmas at Walt Disney World," and in films, including "As Good As It Gets" and "Peter Rabbit and the Crucifix." Dr. Spencer’s first role in "What’s Happening!!" was honored and is exhibited as part of a permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Her mother and brother survive her. Memorials, toward cancer research and animal welfare, may be made to March Funeral Home, c/o Marlow Waller, 2110 E. Laburnum Ave., Richmond, VA 23222.

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.