W. MARK ARMSTRONG, MD
Department of Internal Medicine, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
Dr. Mark Armstrong, the John Binion Professor of General Internal Medicine and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, died on March 25, 2018, at the age of 71. Dr. Armstrong was born in Cullman, Alabama, and grew up in Scottsboro, Alabama. He went to the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, on an academic scholarship and lettered on the basketball team all 4 years. After graduating cum laude in 1968, he went to the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, finishing in 1972. His internship in internal medicine was at the Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital, and his 2-year medical residency was at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Parkland Memorial Hospital. After completion of the residency in June 1975, he came to Baylor University Medical Center to practice general internal medicine. Through the years, Dr. Armstrong was a major teacher of the internal medicine residents and had a large practice in medicine. He was also very active in the American College of Physicians on both national and state levels and was a clinical professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical School and professor of internal medicine at the Texas A&M College of Medicine. He married the former Nancy Stover, also a general internist. The two enjoyed a happy and successful marriage and were devoted parents to their two daughters, Meredith and Melissa. In addition to his medical service, Mark was a dedicated member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon and an elder and where his daughters and all of his grandsons were baptized.
Theodore W. Bywaters, MD
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
Dr. T. W. Bywaters Jr., orthopedic surgeon, died peacefully on March 19, 2018. He was born on October 9, 1931, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Dr. T. W. Bywaters and Helen Koehler Bywaters. The family moved to Dallas, where he and his brother, Walter, were raised. After graduating from the University of Colorado in Boulder, he attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. During medical school, he became engaged to Carol Elizabeth Anderson; they married in 1954 and had two sons. Dr. Bywaters, like his father, was a gifted orthopedic surgeon who practiced at Baylor University Medical Center. He had a special interest in osteoarthritis of the hand and wrist, hip, and knee. In his spare time, he built a telescope, a car, a television, as well as much of the furniture in their home. He enjoyed hunting, tinkering with his cars, mowing his lawn, and many other outdoor activities with his family. He was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Dallas.
Robert D. Vandermeer, MD
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
Robert D. Vandermeer, MD, died on March 27, 2018, at the age of 85. He was senior partner and president emeritus of the Carrell Clinic and a member of the teaching staff at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. He also served for 25 years as Southern Methodist University's team doctor and for 14 years as the head team physician for the Dallas Cowboys. While serving in that capacity, he operated on numerous Hall of Fame football players and was a member of three Super Bowl champion teams. Dr. Vandermeer was born in Toronto on February 1, 1933. As a 9-year old, he became the first patient in Canada to receive penicillin after nearly succumbing to a staph infection at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto. He moved to Dallas with his family in 1949, graduated from Highland Park High School in 1951, and matriculated to Southern Methodist University. He received his medical degree in 1958 from UT Southwestern Medical School, earning election to Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Following a residency in orthopedic surgery, he joined the Carrell Clinic, where he took a special interest in sports-related injuries, arthroscopy, joint replacement, and reconstructive knee surgery. After mastering the use of the arthroscope in the early 1970s, he became one of its earliest experts and advocates in North Texas. Dr. Vandermeer was a member of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and the National Football League Team Physician Society. In 1981, he was elected an honorary member of the National Athletic Trainer Association. Dr. Vandermeer served on the Executive Board of the Southwestern Diabetic Foundation, which sponsors Camp Sweeney summer camp for diabetic children. Volunteering as the camp doctor every summer was one of his great passions. He leaves behind a wonderful family and an iconic legacy.