Mark Guffy, 82, died Friday, April 25, 2003 of lung cancer at his son’s home in Ames, Iowa. Mark was one of the early diplomates of the ACVR obtaining diplomate status in 1968.
Mark was born November 19th, 1920 in Denver, Colorado and entered the College of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University in 1942. At the start of World War 11, he enlisted in the Navy Air Corps and as a Marine pilot flew combat missions in the South Pacific, and even survived a crash. He was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and 12 air medals. He completed his training in Veterinary Medicine in 1949 and practiced in Hull, Iowa and Boulder, Colorado before accepting a position at Kansas State University, College of Veterinary Medicine in 1963. During sabbatical leave, he studied radiology at Colorado State University and obtained his Master of Science degree in 1966. During part of his program, Mark studied at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
Mark was the first and only radiologist at Kansas State University until 1984 when he was joined by Dr. James Douglass. Mark developed the radiology section from one with hand-processing tanks and one x-ray machine to a department with an automatic processor and high output special procedures x-ray machine with fluoroscopy and an automatic injector. Although these appear to be modest advances compared to our current technology, at that time, such equipment was state-of-the-art and in use at Kansas State University before it was available in many other veterinary colleges. Since Mark was the only radiologist at his institution, he developed a friendship with several MD radiologists at Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka, Kansas, which is an hour’s drive away from Manhattan. He participated in film reading sessions sharing his veterinary cases with the MDs. Of course, his cases were especially interesting to the other radiologists. During the 1970s, a 1-year radiology internship was offered at Kansas State University. Two of those interns, Dr. Robert Bahr and Dr. Mary Mahaffey, later completed radiology residencies and became diplomates of the ACVR.
In 1987, Mark retired as a Professor of Veterinary Radiology and moved to Lompoc, California in 1996 where he pursued his passion for gardening and growing beautiful roses. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Alice; his daughter, Robin, of Tonganoxie, Kansas; his son, Mike of Ames, Iowa; four grandchildren and one great grandson.
Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound 2003 44 (4), 480.