AVMA member
AVMA honor roll member
Larry A. Eld
Dr. Eld (Colorado State ’67), 83, Meridian, Idaho, died Aug. 7, 2022. Following graduation, he practiced mixed animal medicine in Emmett, Idaho. Dr. Eld subsequently moved to Boise, Idaho, where he joined Mountain View Animal Clinic. In 1977, he took over the practice, owning it until 1999. In semiretirement, Dr. Eld continued to perform surgery part time. During his career, he also served as the veterinarian for Zoo Boise and was instrumental in establishing an emergency clinic in Boise. Dr. Eld also invented and patented the Eld gastrostomy tube applicator.
Active in organized veterinary medicine, he co-founded and served as president of the Boise Academy of Veterinary Practitioners and served on the Idaho Board of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Eld was a member of the American Animal Hospital Association and the Idaho and Southwest Idaho VMAs. In 1994, he received the IVMA Veterinarian of the Year Award. Dr. Eld was also named a Distinguished Citizen by the Idaho Statesman. He is survived by two sons, his grandchildren, and three brothers. Memorials may be made to the Boise Rescue Mission, P.O. Box 1494, Boise, ID 83701.
Robert F. Goldsboro
Dr. Goldsboro (Tuskegee ’51), 95, Medford, New Jersey, died Sept. 8, 2022. Following graduation, he served as a first lieutenant in the Air Force during the Korean War. Dr. Goldsboro subsequently earned a master’s in public health from Columbia University and joined the New Jersey Department of Health, serving as a district public health veterinarian and as state program coordinator of veterinary epidemiology. He retired after 30 years with the department. Dr. Goldsboro was a veteran of the Air Force Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel after 28 years of active and reserve service. His son, daughter, and four grandchildren survive him.
John Theodore Hollister
Dr. Hollister (California-Davis ’55), 91, Pacific Grove, California, died March 29, 2022. Following graduation, he served in the Air Force. Dr. Hollister subsequently established Peninsula Animal Hospital in Pacific Grove, where he practiced small animal medicine until retirement in 1995. He later provided his services at a spay and neuter clinic in Greenfield, California. Dr. Hollister served on the board of directors of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Monterey County. His four children and a brother survive him. Memorials may be made to SPCA Monterey County, 1002 Monterey Salinas Highway, Salinas, CA 93908.
Duane E. Hughes
Dr. Hughes (Minnesota ’56), 91, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, died July 12, 2022. Following graduation, he established a large animal practice in Herreid, South Dakota. In 1966, Dr. Hughes moved near Java, South Dakota, where he ranched and worked as an inspector for the state of South Dakota. He eventually became the state veterinarian. Dr. Hughes later served as the inspecting veterinarian for the stockyards in Sioux Falls.
A member of the South Dakota VMA, he was named Veterinarian of the Year in 1981. Dr. Hughes is survived by his wife, Venoye; three daughters and two sons; 16 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; and two sisters. Memorials may be made to the South Dakota VMA, P.O. Box 2175, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, or Avera Dougherty Hospice House, 4509 S. Prince of Peace Place, Sioux Falls, SD 57103.
Mark Kombert
Dr. Kombert (Louisiana State ’95), 59, White Plains, New York, died Aug. 24, 2022. He most recently practiced in New York state. Dr. Kombert is survived by two sons, his mother, and three sisters. Memorials may be made to the Jewish National Fund, National Office, 42 E. 69th St., New York, NY 10021, or International Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 137, Shrewsbury, MA 01545.
Cameron B. Mikkelsen
Dr. Mikkelsen (Minnesota ’62), 90, Devils Lake, North Dakota, died April 29, 2022. During his career of more than 40 years, he owned mixed animal practices in North Dakota at Oakes, Bowman, and Beach, and he served as a relief veterinarian in the state at Jamestown and New Rockford. Following retirement in 2004, Dr. Mikkelsen worked on a farm in the area for more than 10 years.
He was a past president of the North Dakota VMA and a member of the Elks and Masonic lodges. Dr. Mikkelsen was a veteran of the Navy. He is survived by his wife, Joyce; four sons, two stepsons, and a stepdaughter; four grandchildren and 11 stepgrandchildren; nine great-grandchildren and 19 stepgreat-grandchildren; two stepgreat-great-grandchildren; and a brother and a sister.
James J. Ramage
Dr. Ramage (Pennsylvania ’67), 95, Ford City, Pennsylvania, died May 25, 2022. He owned Valley Veterinary Hospital in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, prior to retirement. Dr. Ramage subsequently became a master gardener in Pennsylvania’s Armstrong County. He was a veteran of the Air Force. Dr. Ramage’s wife, Lynn; a son, a daughter, and a stepdaughter; and three grandchildren survive him. Memorials may be made to The Arboretum at Penn State, 302 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA 16802; Orphans of the Storm Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 838, Kittanning, PA 16201; or Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley, 730 Church St., New Kensington, PA 15068.
Lonnie Richard Smith
Dr. Smith (Auburn ’69), 77, Monroe, Tennessee, died Aug. 17, 2022. He practiced in Nashville, Tennessee, where he established Hickory Plaza Veterinary Clinic, working there for 45 years prior to retirement. Dr. Smith subsequently farmed in Tennessee’s Overton County. He was a member of the Tennessee VMA. Dr. Smith’s wife, Sue; two sons; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren survive him.
Friedegunde O. Wells
Dr. Wells, 88, Durant, Oklahoma, died Aug. 17, 2022. Following graduation in 1960 from the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover in Germany, she moved to the United States, practicing initially in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Dr. Wells subsequently moved to Oklahoma, where she worked in Achille. She later founded Bryan County Animal Hospital, a mixed animal practice in Durant. Dr. Wells is survived by two daughters, a son, 11 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and six siblings. Her son, Dr. Billy Wells (Ross ’98), is also a veterinarian. Memorials toward the Dr. Friede Wells Memorial Fund, which helps to care for stray and needy animals in the community, may be sent to Bryant County Animal Hospital, 2315 S. 9th St., Durant, OK 74701.
Please report the death of a veterinarian promptly to the AVMA News staff via a toll-free phone call at 800-248-2862, ext. 6754; email at news
avma [dot] org; or fax at 847-925-9329. For an obituary to be published, AVMA News must be notified within six months of the date of death.