Dr. Kenneth Richard Kaess, Physician and Cancer Researcher dies at 100.
Dr. Kenneth Richard Kaess died Jan. 16, 2021, in Redding, CT. He was 100 years old. The cause of death was Covid said his daughter Karen Kaess Clark.
Dr. Kenneth Richard Kaess was born March 1, 1920, in Fargo, ND. He was the third son, in the family of five children, of Dr. Andrew J Kaess and his wife Addie.
Ken Kaess attended Saint John’s Academy in Fargo and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of North Dakota. His two older brothers, James and Karl, had followed in their father’s footsteps and had become doctors. Ken had thought he wanted to take a different path but soon changed his mind, and too decided he wanted to be a doctor.
The problem with this change of heart was he had not taken any of the premed courses he needed to apply to Medical School. However, while researching medical schools he discovered one called Harvard, that didn’t seem to require as many premed courses. He applied, his scholastic record was excellent, and Harvard Medical School accepted him on a full scholarship.
It was wartime, so after he graduated from Harvard Medical School, Ken joined the Army. Because of his unique educational background, Harvard medical school, and a degree in electrical engineering, the Army placed him at the United States Army School of Roentgenology at M.I.T. At around the same time, he was also a research fellow in Radiology and Nuclear Physics at the Biophysical Laboratory Harvard Medical School. Ken also received a Fellowship in Pathology from Harvard.
During this period Ken went to a Harvard Wellesley Dance and met Marguerite Welch, who he married a short time later.
At the end of the war, Ken and Marguerite moved to Chicago where Ken held an internship in Nuclear medicine at the University of Chicago. This was followed by an assistant residency in Radiology at Wesley Memorial Hospital, Northwestern Medical School. Ken was one of the first doctors to get his Boards in Nuclear Medicine.
Ken and Marguerite then moved to Detroit Michigan, where Ken became a practicing radiologist at Henry Ford Memorial Hospital. After a few years in Detroit, Ken and Marguerite moved to Los Angeles where Ken became a practicing radiologist at Cedars Sinai Hospital.
Ken’s wife, Marguerite was unhappy in California and wanted to move back to the east coast. They settled in Connecticut, and Ken became Director of Radiology at St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury Ct. Following that Ken became Director of Radiology at Winsted Hospital, Winsted, CT.
Ken Kaess was a Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Association, a Fellow of the American Medical Association, a member of the New England Roentgen Ray Society, a member of the American Radium Society, a fellow of the American College of Radiology, and a member of American Board of Nuclear Medicine.
Dr. Kaess was among the radiologists chosen to represent the United States at the Soviet American Congress of Radiology in Moscow U.S.S.R. and he received a certificate of appreciation from the Memorial Sloane Kettering Center New York, “in honor of his outstanding leadership, commitment and support in the battle against cancer.”
Along with his many scholastic achievements, Ken Kaess was an accomplished saxophone player. During his college years, he formed Ken Kaess and the Campus Kings. The band played multiple venues around North Dakota and Minnesota. He traveled extensively around the world and loved spending his summers on Cape Cod. Noted for his great sense of humor, he impacted many people’s lives for the better.
Dr. Kaess was predeceased by his first wife, Marguerite Welch Kaess, his second wife, Carolyn Blish Kaess, and by his son Kenneth Richard Kaess Jr.
Dr. Kaess is survived by his daughter Karen Kaess Clark of Palm Beach, Fla., his son Karl Welch Kaess and his wife Lisa of Wilton, CT.
His grandchildren Edwin Marston Burke and his wife Yvonne of Greenwich, CT, James VanVleck Burke and his wife Alexandra of Coral Gables, Fla., Christopher James Kaess and his fiancé Tara Alvarez of N.Y.N.Y., Courtney Mae Kaess of N.Y.N.Y., Andrew Welch Kaess and his wife Nicolle of Westport, CT, and Alex Walleen Kaess and his wife Allyson of Belmont, Calif. He is also survived by his great-grandchildren, Calista and Aria Burke of Greenwich, CT, and Marina Burke of Coral Gables, Fla.
