http:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/stlouis\/stories\/2009\/02\/09\/daily10.html<\/p>\n
Vallee Willman, a national pioneer in heart surgery and the first surgeon in the Midwest to perform a heart transplant, died Sunday at his home in Webster Groves after a long illness. He was 83.<\/p>\n
Dr. Willman was chairman of the Department of Surgery at Saint Louis University for 27 years, retiring from that position in 1996.<\/p>\n
Under his leadership, he and other surgeons at Saint Louis University were some of the first to use procedures that led to coronary bypass surgery.<\/p>\n
He performed the first heart transplant in the Midwest in 1972.<\/p>\n
Dr. Willman donated his body to Saint Louis University School of Medicine.<\/p>\n
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 7:30 p.m. March 6 at St. Francis Xavier (College) Church in St. Louis. Visitation will occur in the church at 7 p.m., with a reception to follow Mass in the church\u2019s ballroom.<\/p>\n
In addition to his wife, Melba, of 57 years, Willman\u2019s survivors are his children: Philip (Hilda) Willman, St. Louis; Elizabeth (James) Murphy, Kirkwood; Susan Willman (Patrick O\u2019Brien), Oakland, Calif.; Stephen Willman (Colleen Peters), St. Louis; Mark (Valerie) Willman, Kauai, HI; Jane Turner (Julian Bush), St. Louis; Vallee (Claire) Willman Jr., Webster Groves; and Sarah (Brian) Cuneo, Bethesda, Md.; as well as 18 grandchildren. A son, Timothy, died in 1975.<\/p>\n
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions to Saint Louis University, Willman Endowed Chair, 221 N. Grand Ave., Room 319, St. Louis, Mo., 63103.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/stlouis\/stories\/2009\/02\/09\/daily10.html Vallee Willman, a national pioneer in heart surgery and the first surgeon in the Midwest to perform a heart transplant, died Sunday at his home in Webster Groves after a long illness. He was 83. Dr. Willman was chairman of the Department of Surgery at Saint Louis University for 27 years, retiring from that … Continue reading Pioneering heart surgeon dies<\/span>