Necrology

Daniel Carl Wistran '69

Mar. 23, 1947-Sep. 4, 2021

Daniel Carl Wistran ’69 died in Salem, Mass., on Sept. 4, 2021. Born in Jamestown, N.Y., on March 23, 1947, he came to Hamilton from Jamestown High School. Majoring in chemistry in preparation for medical school, Dan was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, played on the baseball team, joined the staffs of The Spectator and the Hamiltonian in his freshman year, and served on the Student Senate as a sophomore. He sang in the College Choir from his freshman through junior years.

From Hamilton, Dan proceeded to medical school at the University of Buffalo. During the course of his education, he met Julia Ann Mattock of Frewsburg, N.Y. — just six miles south of Jamestown — on a blind date in the afternoon of Aug. 15, 1968. They got married on June 27, 1970, and had three children.

After receiving his medical degree in 1973, Dan began a residency program through Brown University at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. From there, he accepted a fellowship through Harvard University in cardiology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. In 1978, his family moved to Swampscott, Mass., and he began a 21-year career as a cardiologist that he was forced to cut short after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

In the course of his practice, Dan pursued innovative ways to diagnose and treat patients. He trained in cardiovascular ultrasound and introduced that technology to the North Shore. He persuaded the other members of his cardiology group and then Salem Hospital to invest in digital echo technology, and the echo laboratory at the hospital was named in his honor. In addition to his own practice, Dan also had teaching responsibilities at Tufts University School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dan was an avid golfer, skier, and windsurfer. His love of music was lifelong. Carrying on a singing tradition he started at Hamilton, he later was a member of the Apollo Club Choir in Boston. Founded in 1871, it is the second-longest, continuously active men’s choir in the nation. Dan was also an enthusiastic photographer.

Forced by his condition to retire early, he did everything possible to hold off the effects of Parkinson’s disease on the balance of his life, relying on daily exercise, humor, a positive spirit, and stubbornness to keep going. The Wistran family organized the North Shore Walk for Parkinson’s to raise money for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

But in that period, his focus was not exclusively on his own challenges. In 2008, he took it upon himself to convince the Veterans Administration to expand services for veterans, particularly of the Iran-Iraq War, in the neighboring town of Lynn, Mass. He made his case both to VA administrators and his local congressman, and his advocacy proved successful.

Like many alumni, Dan recognized the impact of his Hamilton education. In 1994, in his 25th reunion yearbook, he wrote: “I do not remember having a lot of fun, but I do remember being in chemistry labs for hours and hours in the afternoons and having three years of German classes on Saturday mornings at 8 a.m. When I went on to medical school, I was surprised to find out how well-prepared I was and realized how precious my time had been on the Hill. I can thank Leland Cratty, Robin Kinnel, Lawrence Yourtee, and Donald Denney.” These men, as well as Mox Webber and Thomas Colby, he said, “taught us how to think, how to play, and how to survive.” Dan served Hamilton as an alumnus by joining his class’s reunion gift committee and volunteering for the Career Center.

Daniel C. Wistran is survived by his wife, two sons, one daughter, and seven grandchildren. 

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