Deceased February 13, 2024
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In Memory
On Feb. 13, 2024, John Fitchen passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Known as Gootch, he was a dear friend, a delightful companion and an entertaining raconteur.
At Amherst, he majored in biology under Professor Yost, then obtained his M.D. from the University of Rochester, a residency in medicine at the University of Oregon Medical School (now Oregon Health & Science University, or OHSU) and a fellowship in hematology at UCLA. His 2019 memoir, Life Through the Lens of a Doctor Birder, noted his history as an emeritus professor of medicine at OHSU, spending nearly 20 years in education. Much of his research focused on gene therapy and molecular alterations and therapies. He also assumed a leadership role at Epitope, Inc., a biotech company that developed the first and only oral HIV test.
Gootch became a respected birder in the Portland area, adding to his publishing credentials, appearing in The Atlantic, Birding, The New England Journal of Medicine and a number of other peer-reviewed medical journals. He is survived by Ellen, his wife of 53 years, and his sons, Matthew and Martin.
He was a true friend, loved by his brothers at Beta Theta Pi, the Amherst Rugby Club and the Amherst football team.
Gootch was loved not only for his knowledge, wisdom and rational thinking but also for his fun-loving approach to life. He was a regular at the Thursday night Beta card games. Sometimes these games would infringe on critical study time for organic chemistry. Then he’d turn around and ace an organic chem test the following day.
Other than Ellen and his boys, no one dominated his attention, although many of us were certain we were his best friend. Each of us experiences his passing as a deeply felt loss.
Bruce Grean ’67, Paul Bunn ’67 and George Fleming ’67