Inducted in 2012
Warren Guntheroth graduated from Will Rogers and received a full scholarship to Harvard University. He earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1952 and began his career in pediatric medicine as a Research Fellow at Harvard from 1953-55. Warren joined the medical staff of the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle in 1957, where he founded the department of Pediatric Cardiology and remained for fifty-five years. At the time of his death in 2012, he was the most senior member of the medical school staff.
Dr. Guntheroth’s contributions to pediatric medicine were significant. He was the first American physician to publish a paper calling for the Back to Sleep position for infants, preventing thousands of deaths each year from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). He published hundreds of articles and three books, one of which was translated into five languages.
Warren loved mountain climbing and his dogs, and he loved talking about both, so he wrote a book, Climbing with Sasha, his favorite Husky. His autobiography, My Life, Loves and Battles, honored the profound influence of women in his life and saluted the importance of hard work and honesty. Warren was a fighter for social justice and equality all his life and a generous contributor to social justice-oriented charities and political causes.
As a medical resident in the 50s, he met two nurses at Boston Children’s Hospital, best friends and roommates, Ellie and Sally. In 1954, he and Ellie were married. They had three sons and a happy marriage until Ellie’s death in 2007. Sally had been around the Guntheroth family for 53 years. She and Warren fell in love after Ellie’s death and were married in 2009. Warren and Ellie both valued education and knowledge. All three children went to college. Two became engineers, and the third became an entrepeneur.
