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Dr. LeRoy, Distinguished Professor, dies May 16E. Carwile LeRoy, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Medicine at MUSC, died May 16, 2002, in Ancona, Italy, after a brief illness.
He became director of the William Daniels Faulkner Arthritis Clinic of that institution in 1969, a position he held until moving to MUSC in 1975. Internationally recognized for his research in the field of rheumatology and specifically the disease scleroderma, Dr. LeRoy earned academic honors and provided leadership and counsel to a number of clinical and research organizations. He was on the Board of Directors of the American College of Rheumatology, President of the National Society of Clinical Rheumatology, and Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Scleroderma Federation. He served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Connective Tissue Diseases, the International Journal of Immunotherapy, and Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology, as well as on study sections for the National Institute of Health. He was a Master of the American College of Rheumatology and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He authored 270 papers in professional journals, reviews, and books, among them major textbooks of medicine and rheumatology. He was noted for his seminal contributions to the understanding of the pathenogenesis of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). Dr. LeRoy was a member of the Medical University faculty for more than a quarter of a century. During his years at MUSC, he was director of the Division of Rheumatology, chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and chairman of Microbiology and Immunology. Recognizing his many contributions to medicine, MUSC bestowed its highest faculty honor, Distinguished University Professor, upon him in 2000. He was a member of First (Scots) Presbyterian Church and Yeamans Hall Club. He is survived by his wife, Dee Hughes LeRoy of Charleston, a daughter, DeFord LeRoy Davis of Hummelstown, Pa., a son, Dr. Edward Carwile LeRoy Jr. of Baltimore, Md., a brother, John Henry LeRoy III, of Albuquerque, N.M., and three grandchildren. Funeral services will take place Sunday, May 26 at 2 p.m. at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Burial will be Tuesday, May 28, at 11 a.m. in Old Hollywood Cemetery, Elizabeth City, N.C. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Autoimmune Disease Research Fund of the Health Sciences Foundation of MUSC, the Loyalty Fund of University of North Carolina School of Medicine, or the Crisis Ministries of Charleston. Carwile LeRoy was a leader in every sense of the word. He built a
program of national and international stature here. He was a person that
so many of us thought of as a role model—a great teacher, a superb clinician,
a talented researcher and a wonderful human being.
It was with dreadful sadness that I heard of Carwile’s death. I had
known Carwile for many many years. He had been a professional mentor and
also a good friend. We will remember with gratitude and joy his life at
the International Scleroderma Workshop which I am hosting with Dr. Joseph
Korn this week at Woods Hole.
I will always remember Carwile for his three great loves, Dee (his
wife), his family and science. I will also remember him for helping my
dad teach me to play golf at Patriots Point and that he always joked about
my father never giving me any short putts. Later in our lives learning
golf led to many exciting scientific discussions as Carwile and I walked
Yeamans Hall on many early Sunday mornings. His great interest in viruses
as the origin of autoimmune disease originated during discussions on these
walks. He was a great friend, mentor and second father to me and I will
treasure my vivid memories of these times and his contributions to my personal
and scientific development.
It has been my pleasure to have known Dr. LeRoy since 1975. We started
collaborating on the genetics of scleroderma in the 1980s; I co-authored
my first paper with him in 1988 and the last on May 6, 2002, the day before
he left for Italy. No one could understand the discipline of rheumatology
so well. I definitely learned about scleroderma from him, but also a great
deal about human values. I was fortunate to have a collaborator who was
compassionate, unpretentious and magnanimous.
He came as a leader in the 70s and made lasting scientific contributions.
He was a true academic who also excelled in teachng and clinical areas.
I will miss him at work and on the links.
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Born
Jan. 19, 1933 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Dr. LeRoy attended Wake
Forest College from which he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor
of Science degree in 1955. After earning M.S. and M.D. degrees with honors
from the University of North Carolina in 1960, he trained at the Columbia-Presbyterian
Medical Center in New York City, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda,
Maryland, and held a Fellowship in Arthritis in the Department of Medicine
of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.