Rites Planned for Dr. Joseph St. Geme

A funeral service for Joseph St. Geme, former professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and most recently dean of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, will be held Thursday.

The service for Dr. St. Geme, who died Saturday at his home in Denver, will be held at noon at the Chapel of the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.

St. Geme was 55 and had a history of heart problems.

The 1956 graduate of Stanford School of Medicine completed his specialty training in pediatrics at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and taught there before joining the UCLA faculty in 1966, becoming pediatrics chairman in 1967 and executive chairman in 1977.

At his death, St. Geme was president-elect of the American Pediatric Society.

His honors include the Ross Award for Pediatric Education from the Western Society for Pediatric Research in 1977; the Outstanding Faculty Teacher Award, Pediatric Health Staff, Harbor-UCLA in both 1978 and 1979; and a Project Head Start Service Award from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1976.

Survivors include his wife, Monica, four sons, two daughters, his mother, a brother and four grandchildren. The family suggests contributions to a pediatric research fund established in his name at both the University of Colorado and UCLA.