Starzl memorial set for his birthday

A memorial service for Dr. Thomas Starzl has been set for Saturday on what would have been the transplant pioneer's 91st birthday.

The service will be held at 1 p.m. at Heinz Chapel in Oakland, according to a spokesman for the University of Pittsburgh, where Starzl was a distinguished service professor of surgery.

Starzl, 90, died early Saturday at his home in Pittsburgh's Schenley Farms neighborhood.

Starzl, who joined Pitt's School of Medicine in 1981, performed the world's first successful liver transplant in 1967 while at the University of Colorado. He is known worldwide as the father of transplantation.

Starzl is survived by his wife of 36 years, Joy Starzl, of Pittsburgh, son Timothy (Bimla) of Boulder, Colo., and grandchild Ravi Starzl (Natalie) of Pittsburgh. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Rebecca Starzl, and a son, Thomas F. Starzl.