GLADSTONE, Lee, Dr. 1914-2003

GLADSTONE, FREMMEL

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 12/8/2019 at 10:59:10

Dr. Lee Gladstone

McHenry--Dr. Lee Gladstone, 88, the founder of McHenry Hospital, died Thursday, March 13, 2003.

He was a graduate of the University of Illinois and the Chicago Medical School.

Dr. Gladstone was the founder of the former McHenry Hospital ("the little Mayo of the Midwest"), which later became Northern Illinois Medical Center.

After completing his psychiatric residency at Northwestern University, he founded the alcohol treatment program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was a fellow member of the American Society of Addictive Medicine.

Dr. Gladstone was the father of Evan Gladstone and Lorna Gladstone; grandfather of Danielle and Gaelin; and great-grandfather of Briana, Anisa and Gage.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Gertrude Gladstone, nee Fremmel.

The family will receive evening callers Wednesday and Thursday, March 19 and 20, at 1933 N. Hudson Ave., Chicago. Friends also may call from 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at 2222 Cherry Valley Road, Bull Valley.

Arrangements were made by the Cremation Society of Illinois.

--Northwest Herald (Woodstock, Illinois), 16 March 2003, pg 36

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Dr. Lee Gladstone, 88

Addiction treatment pioneer

Long before most doctors were treating people for addictions, Dr. Lee Gladstone saw it as not just a social problem, but as a medical and psychiatric one.

He credited his own experiences with friends and family members who were alcoholics, and the father of a girl he dated, for giving him a decidedly "compassionate view of my work," he said in a 1990 Tribune article.

Over a 54-year career, his compassion never waned, and through a variety of research efforts and the creation of novel treatment facilities, Dr. Gladstone built an international reputation as one of the leading authorities on addiction.

Dr. Gladstone, 88, who also founded McHenry Hospital and who lived in both Chicago and Bull Valley, died Thursday, March 13, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago after being treated for pneumonia.

He was born in Wellsberg, Iowa, where his father, a Latvian immigrant, ran a small department store that he relocated twice, to South Chicago and then to McHenry when Dr. Gladstone was in high school.

He graduated from Chicago Medical School in 1940 and entered the Army as a physician during World War II, serving two years in Burma under legendary surgeon Gordon Seagraves.

In 1947 he started a practice as an internist in then-rural McHenry County, where he helped create a medical community. He founded the McHenry Medical Group, the McHenry Mental Health Association and, in 1956, McHenry Hospital, now known as Centegar Northern Illinois Medical Center.

But in the mid-1950s, Dr. Gladstone decided to go back to Northwestern Medical School for a residency in psychiatry.

"He had that consuming curiosity," said his daughter, Lorna. "I think he just needed the challenge of a new project and meeting new people."

After completing his residency, Northwestern hired him in 1973 to run its first alcoholic treatment program. At a time when it was common practice to simply lock alcoholics up, "he recognized that they shouldn't be locked up--they should be treated," said Dr. Wayne Burton, who worked with Dr. Gladstone at Northwestern.

Dr. Gladstone founded a detoxification program that allowed alcoholics to stay at the YMCA for up to six months, giving them continual treatment. With Burton, Dr. Gladstone also created a system, called MILT, that used basic blood tests to screen people for drinking problems. A form of MILT is still in use today.

"He was one of the true pioneers in the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse," Burton said.

In 1974 he also founded the Foxfire Day Treatment Center in Summit to provide treatment to people with chronic, severe mental illness.

In addition to his medical achievements, Dr. Gladstone was proud of his work in conservation. In 1991 he and his late wife, Gertrude, donated the development rights on their 9-acre summer home property in Bull Valley to the Illinois nature preserve system after part of the property was identified as a fen, a rare wetland fed by a spring.

It was part of an extension of efforts in his medical career, said his son, Evan.

"What mattered to him in life was really making a difference to others," said his son.

Other survivors include a stepbrother, Roy; two granddaughters; and three great-grandchildren.

The family will receive callers from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at 1933 N. Hudson Ave., Chicago, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 2222 Cherry Valley Rd., Bull Valley. No services are scheduled.

--Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), 17 March 2003, pg 5