THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230313
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B11 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Dr. James Cipriano Respess died at his home Monday, April 15, 1996, after a lengthy illness.
Born May 4, 1920, in Baltimore, Md. Dr. Respess was raised in Norfolk. Dr. Respess is survived by his wife, of Charlottesville; his four children, Mrs. John O'Hara of Norfolk, Mrs. Thomas D. Lanahan of Afton, Va., Ms. Elizabeth Respess of Washington, D.C., and Mr. James C. Respess Jr. of Charlottesville; six grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. Dr. Respess is also survived by his brother, Mr. Edmond V. Respess of Virginia Beach.
Dr. Respess attended the Norfolk Division of William and Mary. He then entered the U.S. Navy, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant commander, earning a bronze star in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. After the war, Dr. Respess entered the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He graduated in 1950. He did his internal medicine residency at the University of Virginia and except for a fellowship in gastroenterology in Boston, he spent all of his years in gastroenterology at the University of Virginia Hospital.
Dr. Respess was instrumental in founding the Professional Standards Review Organization in the Commonwealth of Virginia, among the first of such groups in the United States to study and promulgate guidelines to improve the quality of medical care. In 1979, Dr. Respess received the Most Distinguished Alumni Award from the Medical Alumni Association of the University of Virginia School of Medicine. This spring, the University of Virginia School of Medicine Class of 1950 funded the James C. Respess Lectureship in Gastroenterology. He was also responsible for founding the Virginia Gastroenterological Society.
His ashes have been interred in the Memorial Wall of the University of Virginia Cemetery. Memorial services were held on April 18, 1996, in Charlottesville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the University of Virginia Medical School Alumni Association, The James C. Respess Lectureship in Gastroenterology or to St. Paul's Memorial Church of Charlottesville.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB