Delmar R. Aitken ’73-B was born on May 17, 1947, and died July 29, 2020. He attended Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, before moving to California to attend LLU School of Medicine.
While in medical school he met and married Cheree, the love of his life, and together they had two daughters. In 1981, Dr. Aitken was asked to join a research team at Ohio State University to develop the standards for sentinel lymph node mapping and biopsy using radioactive isotopes, now the gold standard of care in breast cancer surgery. He returned to LLU where he served on the faculty, furthered his surgical expertise, and with Cheree by his side, brought this gama detection technology to the Inland Empire.
Later in his career, Dr. Aitken went into private practice in the Inland Empire and Palm Springs. Most recently he provided in-home and hospice care. Throughout his career, Dr. Aitken cared for his patients deeply, adored mentoring new doctors, and as a man of faith, believed that medicine was his way to serve.
He was gregarious, fun, and humorous, striving to bring joy and healing to others. He loved connecting with people: his patients, his friends and colleagues, and mostly, his family. For over 48 years he was devoted to and twitter- pated by his wife, Cheree, and loved the adventure of visiting his daughters and deepening his relationship with his son-in-law. Dr. Aitken especially enjoyed the whole family being back together in California for sightseeing in Palm Springs or a day at Disneyland!
Dr. Aitken is survived by his wife, Cheree; daughters, April Angelique Aitken and Andra Aitken-Diaz (Ramiro); as well as three grand-dogs.
(Source: Family of Dr. Aitken)