Memorial Set for Dr. Webster Marxer

Memorial services for Dr. Webster L. Marxer, pioneer in the field of predictive medicine, will be conducted at 7 p.m. Dec. 5 in the Sacred Heart Chapel at Loyola Marymount University, Westchester.

Co-author of the text, “The Art of Predictive Medicine,” Marxer died Sunday at his residence in Santa Monica. He was 79.

Known in the film community as a private individual who disdained publicity, Marxer attended scores of Hollywood celebrities.

“He was so self-effacing that there will not even be a eulogy at his memorial,” said actor Don Ameche, one of Marxer’s many famous patients.

In his specialty, he served as a consultant to major Southland industries and operated a diagnostic center for predictive medicine in Santa Monica where he practiced until his retirement early this year. His number remained in the phone book, Ameche said, and he continued to make night calls until shortly before his death.

Marxer was one of the first industrial doctors to encourage his executive patients to lose weight and quit drinking and smoking.

Earlier, Marxer assisted in the development of a health program for America’s astronauts and had been medical adviser to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

Burial was in the family plot at Belleville, Ill. He leaves a daughter, Linda; sons Laurence and Timothy, and a sister, Ludgardis Marxer.