University at Buffalo: Reporter

Kenneth Goldstein, 81, alcohol rehab pioneer

A memorial service was held April 6 in the Amherst Memorial Chapel, Getzville, for Kenneth Goldstein, who began and directed the first alcohol rehabilitation center in New York State in 1948. Operated in conjunction with UB, it was the first university-affiliated center of its kind in the country. Goldstein, who died March 23 in Millard Fillmore Hospital, was 81.

He pioneered the concept that alcoholism is a disease, and helped create public awareness of alcoholism as a public health problem through the University of Buffalo Round Table discussions televised during the 1950s.

A 1939 graduate of the UB medical school, he served as a major in the Army Medical Corps during World War II. For half a century, he specialized in internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Goldstein, a clinical professor at the UB medical school, was a past president of the UB Medical School Alumni Association.

He was on the staffs of Millard Fillmore Hospital and what is now the Erie County Medical Center.

Richard P. Kucharski, 59, computer analyst

A Mass of Christian Burial was held April 4 in St. Barnabas Catholic Church, Depew, for Richard P. Kucharski, 59, chief applications analyst for the Computer Center at UB. Kucharski died suddenly March 31 in Millard Fillmore Hospital.

In addition to serving on the Computer Center staff, he was a computer applications instructor in Millard Fillmore College.

Kucharski received an associate's degree in mechanical technology from Erie Community College in 1957 and graduated cum laude from UB in 1970 with a degree in business administration.

He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reserves for eight years, attaining the rank of first sergeant. Before joining UB in 1968, he was a supervisor for the Union Carbide Co.

Kucharski was a Cheektowaga Democratic committeeman. He served United University Professions, a union representing faculty and professional staff of SUNY, for many years in a variety of capacities both at the chapter level and statewide.

At the time of his death he was grievance chair for professionals. Previously, he had served as chapter treasurer, chapter vice president for professionals, statewide UUP delegate, and member of the statewide finance and grievance committees; he was also a delegate to the New York State United Teachers Representative Assembly.

Colleagues noted that he was the kind of person friends, family and fellow workers came to lean on and depend on. He was well known for his candor and sense of humor.

Daniel D. Pollock, 79, engineering professor

Services were held April 2 in White Chapel Memorial Park, Amherst, for Daniel D. Pollock, a UB professor of engineering for 19 years. Pollock died March 30 in Buffalo General Hospital following surgery. He was 79.

He earned a bachelor's degree by attending night school at Temple University for 10 years while he worked full-time as an assistant superintendent for a refrigerator firm. In 1948, he earned a master's degree in metallurgical engineering from Lehigh University and received his doctorate from Lehigh in 1961.

Before coming to UB as a professor in 1966, he was a manager of the 450-person metals and ceramic research group for Douglass Aircraft Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif.

Pollock, who had been a professor emeritus since retiring from UB in 1985, wrote eight books after retirement.

He was a member of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, the American Society for Metals, the American Society for Testing and Materials, the American Physical Society and the Society of Sigma Xi.

George McKaig Rupley, 75, engineering instructor

A memorial service will be held May 10 in Calvary Episcopal Church, Williamsville, for George McKaig Rupley, 75, who died April 2 in the Erie County Medical Center after a brief illness. Rupley, a structural engineer and designer who worked on more than 300 projects in the Eastern U.S., served as a lecturer in structural engineering for UB evening classes from 1952 to 1965.

Among Rupley's local commissions were Melody Fair in North Tonawanda, the Buffalo Central Library overpass of Washington Street, the Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center, the expansion of Memorial Auditorium and numerous high school and college buildings, including those at UB, Buffalo State College and Fredonia State College.

A graduate of Cornell University, he served as a junior engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and became a civil engineer for the U.S. Navy in World War II. A lieutenant in the Navy, he also served in the Naval Reserve until 1959.

He joined his uncle's firm, Thomas H. McKaig Consulting Engineers in 1946 as a structural designer, became associate and chief engineer in 1949 and a partner in 1966. In 1967 he became a senior partner when the firm became McKaig Rupley Bahler and later Rupley Bahler Blake. He retired from the firm in 1982 but joined Cannon Design, where he served as a vice president until 1990.

Hashim Iyoob, 63, anesthesiologist, assistant clinical professor

A final prayer service was held April 6 in Masjid-e-Noor (Islamic Community Center), Amherst, for Hashim Iyoob, 63, who had served as an assistant clinical professor at the UB medical school. He was an anesthesiologist at Buffalo General Hospital from 1975 until his retirement in 1992. Iyoob died unexpectedly April 5 in Millard Fillmore Hospital.

Born in British India and educated in Pakistan and West Germany, he received his medical degree from the University of Dusseldorf in Germany. He practiced medicine in Vekerhagen, Germany, until 1969 and then worked in Pakistan until he moved to the U.S. in 1972.

Involved in many community projects, he was a member of the Erie County and New York State medical societies and the American Medical Association. He belonged to the New York State and American societies of anesthesiologists and the Association of Asian Physicians. He was a diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology.


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