Necrology

Robert DeForest Gens '49

Jan. 3, 1927-Oct. 28, 2007

Robert DeForest Gens ’49, a retired public health administrator and former pediatrician, was born on January 3, 1927, to Frederick C., an accountant, and Hildegarde (Hilda) Germann Gens, in Brooklyn, NY. He grew up in Floral Park on Long Island, where he was graduated from Sewanhaka High School in 1944. That summer, he came to College Hill but remained only through the fall semester, when he withdrew from the College to enlist in the U.S. Maritime Service and receive hospital corps training.

In 1946, after World War II had ended, Bob Gens returned to the Hill to pursue premedical studies. Always handy with a first aid kit in case any of his Lambda Chi Alpha brothers required medical attention, he was also cited in The Hamiltonian for “his ferocious intramural hockey and varsity lacrosse.” A member of Hamilton’s first varsity lacrosse team, organized in 1947, as well as the Choir, Glee Club, and Band, he left the Hill with his diploma in 1949.

Bob Gens went on to acquire his M.D. degree in 1953 from Cornell University’s School of Medicine. In 1955, after an internship and residency in pediatrics at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, he went on active duty as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps. Released as a captain after two years, he received further training in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.

Married on December 5, 1959, to Elaine Goodyear in Harrisburg, PA, Dr. Gens returned the following year to New York and established his pediatric practice with the Mid Hudson Medical Group in Fishkill. In 1970, however, he joined the Pennsylvania Department of Health in Harrisburg as director of its division of handicapped children’s services. Subsequently appointed director of its adult health services, he engaged in devising and coordinating communicable disease programs, such as efforts to combat swine flu. Named director of the division of infectious disease control in 1978, he retired in 1991.

Dr. Gens, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Preventive Medicine, devoted his leisure time to horticulture. Two years after the death of his wife Elaine in 1975, he and Violet Heim were married in Harrisburg. They enjoyed travel, both in and out of the country, and especially to Europe and the Caribbean. In retirement, Bob Gens did volunteer work for the Dauphin County Area Agency on Aging as a member of its various committees, including its advisory committee, which he chaired for a year. He also contributed his volunteer efforts to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, the American Lung Association, and the Hospice of Central Pennsylvania. He was a member of local choral groups and active in Bethany Village, the retirement community in Mechanicsburg, PA, where he resided.

Robert D. Gens died on October 28, 2007. In addition to his wife of 30 years, he is survived by a daughter and two sons by his first marriage, Ann, Stephen, and David Gens, and four grandchildren, five stepchildren, and 12 step-grandchildren.

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