Gerald Logue

Published June 11, 2015 This content is archived.

Gerald L. Logue, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Hematology in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, died June 7 in the VA Medical Center after a brief illness. He was 73.

Born in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, Logue first member of his family to graduate from high school. He earned a BS in engineering from Penn State and a medical degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his internship, residency and fellowship in hematology at Duke University Medical Center.

He served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy under the Berry Plan at Bethesda Naval Hospital from 1972-73. During that time, he handled President Richard M. Nixon’s blood, and treated submarine commanders, admirals, a Supreme Court justice and returning Vietnam POWs.

He was recruited by UB in 1982 to head its Division of Hematology. During his more than 30-year career, he served as chief of hematology at Buffalo General Hospital, chief of staff at the Buffalo VA Medical Center and vice chair for education in the UB Department of Medicine. He taught students and fellows at the Jonah Center Hematology Clinic at Erie County Medical Center until a week before his death.

Logue also played a major role in developing the clinical ethics program in Western New York and was co-director of UB’s Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care with Stephen Wear, associate professor of medicine. He and Wear co-edited “Ethical Issues in Health Care on the Frontiers of the Twenty-first Century.”

“All who had the blessing of knowing Gerry would have been impressed with his even-tempered, kind, never perturbed, always available approach to all he did,” Wear said. “He was an inspiring, engaged teacher/mentor whose ongoing commitment to medical education spanned all its levels — from medical student to fellow — and then to all of us who were honored to be his colleagues.”

When asked his plans for retirement, Wear said Logue “always made clear that he intended to ‘die in the saddle,’ i.e. continuing to teach, care for patients and generally participate in the life of medicine, a life from which he never wavered.”

Logue was recipient of a Commendation for Teaching Excellence in 1993, the National Red Cross’ Special Citation for Exceptional Volunteer Service in 1994 and the 2013 School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ Faculty/Staff Service Award recognizing 30 years of outstanding contributions to education in medicine and hematology.

In addition to his university activities, Logue served as president of the Buffalo Institute for Medical Research (1992-98) and was a member of the board of directors of the Western New York Hemophilia Center (1984 to 2015) and the American Red Cross Blood Services (1989-94).

He was a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Memorials may be made to the Gerald Logue, MD, Memorial Fund at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, c/o the UB Foundation, PO Box 900, Buffalo, NY 14226.