"He Built the Department"
MAYWOOD -- Dr. Leon Love, retired radiology chairman at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and a nationally known expert in his field, died March 24 while snorkeling in Mexico. The Glencoe resident was 85.
"He built the department to one with a national reputation," said Dr. Richard Cooper, a professor of radiology at Stritch. "The numerous residents he taught are now practicing high-quality radiology throughout the United States."
Dr. Love and his wife, Rita, were avid snorkelers, and had taken trips to the Caribbean, Hawaii and Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Dr. Love died of an apparent heart attack while they snorkeled together off Cozumel, Mexico. "We were holding hands, as we often did while snorkeling," Mrs. Love said. "All of a sudden he stopped holding my hand."
Dr. Love was born and raised in New York City and graduated from the City College of New York. He earned his medical degree at the Chicago Medical School. After completing a residency at a New York hospital, Dr. Love joined the staff of Cook County Hospital, where he was later named radiology chairman.
Dr. Love came to Loyola after the Maywood hospital opened in 1969. He taught and lectured worldwide and completed two sabbaticals at Guy's Hospital in London. He published many research papers on radiology and was nationally known for his expertise in the evaluation of the kidneys and surrounding tissues, Cooper said.
Dr. Love won Loyola's highest honor, the Stritch Medal, in 1991. The medal is given in recognition of outstanding service to medicine. Dr. Love also received awards from the Chicago Radiological Society and Chicago Medical School.
Following his retirement from Loyola in 1994, Dr. Love taught at Chicago Medical School until his death.
In addition to his wife, Dr. Love is survived by two sons, Jonathan and Matthew; a daughter, Emily and four grandchildren.
A memorial service is being planned.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.