Born in 1925, Herbert (Bert) M. Sommers grew up in Colorado Springs, Colo, and spent much of his childhood as a helper in Sommers Market, a fine-food grocery store located on Tejon Street. This market was built by his grandfather, Edward, in 1885 and was in operation until 1950. Many of Bert's childhood years were during the Great Depression, and lessons learned from that experience undoubtedly played out during his later years in his attention to conservation and fiscal prudence.
While at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, Bert performed with a dance troop that traveled coast-to-coast and also served as manager of the school basketball team. After graduating from high school in 1943, and following a brief enrollment at the University of Colorado, he enlisted in the US Army, joining the 343rd Infantry in the 85th Black Hawk Division, and he fought as a foot soldier in both the European and Pacific theatres.
After honorable discharge from the military, Bert took advantage of the student loan program under the GI Bill of Rights, and earned a BS degree from Northwestern University, Chicago, in 1949. He later earned his MD degree from the same institution in 1952. Following an internship and residency training at Wesley Memorial Hospital in Chicago, he earned American Board of Pathology certifications in anatomic (1958) and clinical (1959) pathology. Bert spent the rest of his professional career at the Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, and became a leading practitioner and scholar in the fields of pathology and microbiology. He authored more than 100 scientific papers and contributed chapters to and co-authored several textbooks.
I wish to share a personal reflection on his lasting contribution to the Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology. If he had not been preoccupied with co-authoring The Biologic and Clinical Basis of Infectious Diseases at the time JB Lippincott requested that a microbiology text companion to Platt's Atlas of Hematology be prepared, the Color Atlas would have been his book. Bert's insistence on biochemistry as the foundation of microbiology took its form in the scores of procedure charts that comprise the appendix of the Color Atlas. His deep interest in photography underlies the high quality of the images in the color plates, a quality that continues to receive high acclaim through the 5th edition.
Learning the fundamentals of microbiology through experience was a mantra that Bert interposed on the pathology residents rotating through his laboratory. None of them complained, at least in public, when they had to spend time in the media kitchen preparing their own culture formulations in the workup of a batch of unknown specimens.
In 1955 Bert married Sarah Shute, a southerner from Monroe, North Carolina. They had 4 sons, who Bert had to raise as a single parent after Sarah's death in 1979 following a long battle with cancer. It was during that time that he must have finely honed his culinary skills, because everyone invited to his Walden Street home for dinner was treated to not only a superb repast but also an evening of unparalleled congeniality.
Bert died of Parkinson disease on December 12, 2001. Because he always carried a slow, deliberate, and dignified demeanor, many of us did not detect the gradual deterioration in his health caused by his Parkinson affliction and what also turned out to be progressive dementia. The following statements were part of a testimonial read at Bert's memorial service: “Those who called him ‘friend’ will remember him for his culinary skills, warm hospitality, and dry wit. Those that called him ‘Pop’ will remember him for his unfailing love, judicious guidance, and life-time ownership of broken down Volkswagens!”
Ah yes, Volkswagens. Bert's attention to thrift played out one evening after a Microbiology Resource Committee meeting. I found myself watching the lights of Chicago's skyscrapers slowly pass by while lying on my back, perched on the back deck of his Volkswagen hatchback. He and 5 other members of the committee were crunched into the seats, much like what one might see with a circus wagon, as we puffed our way to one of Bert's favorite north side restaurants. All of this to save a few shekels in lieu of cab fare!
In addition to his 10 years of service on the Council on Microbiology for the American Society for Clinical Pathology, Bert had a 15-year tenure on the Professional Self-Assessment Examination Committee. He also served on several College of American Pathologists committees, including the Microbiology Resource Committee (1971–1981), the Proficiency Survey Committee (1976–1985), and the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Committee (1977–1980). In 1983, he was appointed a trustee of the American Board of Pathology, having previously served on the Board's Medical Microbiology Test Committee. This does not include the hundreds of workshops at which Bert had such a central presence.
We continued to share many professional and social activities with Bert and Carolyn Thurlow Sommers, his second wife whom he married in 1982. We were most saddened several years ago when Carolyn informed us that she could no longer care for Bert and had to seek an assisted living arrangement for him. Unfortunately, Bert did not recognize me the last time I saw him. Accompanied by Washington Winn, we paid one last visit to present him with a copy of the just published 5th edition of the Color Atlas. Yet, we can glory in one treasured remembrance when, as we handed him the book, Bert's trademark twinkle in the eye and familiar smile returned for one brief moment of recognition.
The Sommers family has initiated the Herbert M. Sommers, MD, Fellowship for International Studies in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Northwestern University. This endowment will be used to support a fellow to pursue original investigations in medical microbiology in regions of the world where Bert had studied diseases such as tuberculosis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and infectious diarrhea, which continue to take a high toll on human life. For more information, please contact William Davis in the Office of Medical Development at Northwestern University (phone 312-503-6099, or [email protected]).
