Memorial service for Rodger Haggitt today

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Dr. Rodger C. Haggitt will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday, July 6, in Hogness Auditorium at the UW Health Sciences Center. Seating is limited to about 500. A reception will follow in the Health Sciences Lobby.

Flower arrangements were left at one of the second-floor entrances to the pathology laboratory area late last week. Photo by Gavin Sisk.

Dr. Haggitt was a professor of pathology at the UW School of Medicine and director of anatomic pathology at UW Medical Center. He died in his office Wednesday, June 28, after being shot by a second-year resident, who then took his own life. He was 57.

Dr. Haggitt was considered to be one of the world’s most distinguished pathologists and was recognized for his fundamental studies of gastrointestinal diseases. In close collaboration with UW clinicians, he did work that identified the steps between ulcerative colitis and colon tumors, as well as the relationship between Barrett’s esophagus and cancer of the esophagus.

He received many awards, including the American Society of Clinical Pathologists’ Distinguished Service Award. He was the 2000 Maude-Abbott Lecturer, the highest honor bestowed on a practicing pathologist by the U.S. and Canadian Academy of Pathology. He trained and mentored many pathologists, who regarded him as an outstanding teacher.

Dr. Haggitt was born in Detroit and grew up in Tennessee. A graduate of the University of Tennessee School of Medicine, Dr. Haggitt did his pathology residency training at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis and at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston. He joined the UW faculty in 1984,

He was married to Dr. Mary Jane Haggitt and had three grown children. His personal interests included art collecting, jazz, auto racing and fishing.

A memorial fund will be established at the UW in Dr. Haggitt’s name, with details available soon. ¶