William V. Lumb passed away on Saturday, February 3. He was born November 26, 1921 in Sioux City Iowa to J. Wallace and Edna B. Lumb. His parents moved to Manhattan, KS, in 1924 where his father was state Extension veterinarian and, later, professor of anatomy in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University.

Bill grew up in Manhattan, attended Manhattan High School, and graduated from Kansas State University in Veterinary Medicine in 1943. He served in the Army Veterinary Corps from 1943 to 1946.

In 1946 he went to Boston, where he had an internship and residency at the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital, the largest small animal hospital in the world at that time. In Boston he met Lilly Carlson. Bill took a job in the Small Animal Clinic at Texas A&M University in 1949 and he and Lilly were married in College Station, Texas, that June. In 1952, they moved to St. Paul, MN, where Bill worked toward a PhD degree. In 1954, they moved to Fort Collins, where Bill taught small animal surgery and medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University. Their son, John William Lumb, was born in June, 1955.

In 1958, they moved to Michigan State University where Bill taught in the small animal clinic and did research. Two years later they returned to Fort Collins and Colorado State University.

In 1963, Bill was made director of the surgical laboratory, a new facility on the Foothills Campus, where he developed a graduate teaching and research program in surgery and anesthesiology. It was a multidisciplinary program, involving veterinarians, physicians, engineers and ancillary personnel. Students from 15 countries received Master’s or PhD degrees at the laboratory. Many became department heads and deans in this country and abroad. He continued as director until 1978 and retired from the university in l980. In 1986, Bill taught anesthesiology for a semester at Ross University, St. Kitts, WI.

Besides his DVM, Bill held a Master’s degree from Texas A&M University, a PhD from the University of Minnesota and an honorary doctor or science degree from The Ohio State University. He was a past president and founding diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and a founding diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists. Bill was an external examiner at the faculty of veterinary medicine, Kabete, Kenya, and a consultant to the faculties of veterinary Medicine in Libya and the Sudan.

He received many awards including Colorado Veterinarian of the Year, Gaines Award, Ralston-Purina Award, Markowitz Award, Glover Award and ACVS Founder’s Award for Career Achievement. He held the first patent for a complete prosthetic vertebra and a second for spinal plates. He is cited in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, and Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care.

He authored two books, “Small Animal Anesthesia” and “Veterinary Anesthesia.” The latter was translated into Japanese and Spanish and is now in its 4th edition. In addition, he authored portions of ten other books and 150 professional papers.

For years, Bill and Lilly gave scholarships to Native American students at Colorado State University and Kansas State University. They attended 24 Elderhostels across the United States and traveled in their motor home. They traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, the Orient and South America. Bill had many hobbies: hunting, fishing, fly tying hiking, oil and watercolor painting, playing the piano and bridge, gardening, and flint knapping.

He is survived by his wife, Lilly C. Lumb; one son, John William Lumb; and two grandsons, Garth William Lumb and Grant Cameron Lumb, all of Fort Collins.

Bill’s ashes will be spread on the south slope of Independence Mountain west of Cowdrey. The site overlooks all of North Park where he spent many wonderful times with Lilly, his family, and his many friends.

Memorial donations may be made to the NACC Assist Fund CSU, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Collins, CO, 80522-1870, or Kansas State University Foundation, 1800 Kimball Ave., Ste 200, Manhattan, KS, 66502.

He wants his epitaph to read, “He was an Educator.”