Clifford Gastineau
December 18, 1920 - January 19, 2018

Clifford Felix Gastineau was born December 18, 1920 to Felix Thomas Gastineau and Grace (Rice) Gastineau in Pawnee, Oklahoma. He died on January 19, 2018 in Rochester, Minnesota. As a boy he learned much from his father, a versatile physician, well grounded in chemistry and physics. He attended high school in Vinita, Oklahoma graduating as valedictorian in 1937. At the University of Oklahoma, he was initiated into Phi Beta Kappa and received a B.A. He received an M.D. in December 1943 from the University of Oklahoma, School of Medicine, twenty five years after his father received his medical degree from that school. After an internship at the University of C0lorado Hospitals he began a fellowship in internal medicine at Mayo Foundation in October 1944 and received a Ph.D. in Medicine in March 1950. On March 16, 1951 he married Patricia Lou Murphey. From June 1953 to June 1955 he was a Captain in the Medical Corps of the U. S. Army Reserve, serving most of this time in Frankfurt, Germany.

He served on the staff of the Mayo Clinic from January 1950 to December 1985 in the division of Endocrinology. He was chairman of a section 1967 to l974 and attained the rank of Professor of Medicine in 1973. He was named the Endicott Professor of Medicine in 1977. He was chairman of the Committee on Academic Appointments and Promotions for a number of years. He was a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and was certified in the subspecialty of Endocrinology and Metabolism. During the early years of Mayo Medical School he taught nutrition and gerontology. He established the nutrition consulting service at Mayo Clinic and co-edited several editions of the Mayo Diet Manual. He participated in examinations of candidates for graduate degrees in nutrition at the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota and supervised the studies of some of these students at Mayo for a number of years. He was an author of 86 articles published in medical journals.

He was a member of the board of directors of the American Diabetes Association 1968 to 1974 and was Editor in Chief of Diabetes Forecast 1965 to 1974. He was also a member of the Central Society for Clinical Research, the Endocrine Society, the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, and Sigma Xi.

During 1986 and 1987 he was a physician at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester. From then until 1996 was involved with Mayo Ventures in patient education efforts.

He began singing in choral music groups in his high school years and continued through most of his adult life, mostly in church choirs. His maternal forebears had established a long tradition in the Presbyterian church with participation in the establishment of two churches in northwest Pennsylvania in the early 19th century and in a rural church in Oklahoma Territory in the latter years of that century. He was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Rochester for two terms. He enjoyed travels in retirement and for many years visits to the small family cabin in northern Wisconsin. He had wide interests in reading. Much of the furniture in their home had been made and finished by him from commercial kits.

He was known as a wonderfully kind and humble man despite his intellectual achievements, and those caring for him in assisted living at Charter House were particularly fond of him and returned his kindness constantly.

He is preceded in death by his wife Patricia and brother Robert M. Gastineau of Pittsburgh. He is survived by two sons, Dennis A. Gastineau of Rochester, Minnesota and John E. Gastineau of Portland, Oregon, by four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Rochester, Minnesota at 11:00 am on Friday, April 6. Ashes will be placed in the columbarium at the First Presbyterian Church in a private family ceremony. Memorial contributions could be sent to First Presbyterian Church of Rochester or to Mayo Foundation.

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