SOUTHWEST HARBOR – Jeremiah Mead, M.D., 88, died July 4, 2009, at an Ellsworth health care facility. He was born Aug. 30, 1920, in Madison, Wis., son of Warren J. and Bertha (Taylor) Mead. Jere attended Hill School, Pottstown, Pa., Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. He spent two years training as an intern and assistant resident at Boston City Hospital, and two years doing research in cold weather physiology for the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army at a research station in Hudson’s Bay, Canada. This laboratory experience sparked his interest in research and his entire career from that time on was spent as a faculty member of Harvard School of Public Health, teaching and doing research in respiratory physiology. He retired as Drinker Professor of Environmental Physiology in 1987. His students and colleagues held him in high regard as a teacher, a mentor and a stimulator in the world of scientific ideas. His principal interests apart from his work and family were music and boats. He had a deep love for classical music and an equal affinity for jazz. For many years he played the trombone and French horn. He was an avid and expert sailor. He loved racing and he built two boats, a trimaran and a 30-foot catamaran, which he sailed with skill and delight. Dr. Mead was a member of the American Physiological Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Sigma Xi – Medical Honor Society and Harvard Musical Association. He is survived by his loving wife of almost 64 years, Dorothea (Perry) Mead; sons, Jeremiah P. and wife, Constance, Warren P. and wife, Mary Anne, all of Massachusetts, and Andrew W. and wife, Amy, of Michigan; daughter, Sarah T. and husband, Mack Ramsey, of Massachusetts; a brother, Judson of Indiana; nine grandchildren and three stepgrandchildren. He was predeceased by a brother, Warren. There will be no services at this time. Contributions in his memory may be sent to Community Health Center, 16 Community Lane, Southwest Harbor, ME 04679 or Southwest Harbor Public Library, P.O. Box 157, Southwest Harbor, ME 04679. Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mount Desert.
JEREMIAH MEAD, M.D.
