Passionate about education and health, Stanley W. Marion teamed up with Dr. Morton Arnsdorf in hopes of providing medical students with a better way to understand and read Electrocardiograms. After suffering a major heart attack while on a fishing trip with friends, Stanley became intrigued as to how doctors read and interpreted the results of ECGs. After learning that Medical Students only spent a small amount of time learning how to interpret Electrocardiograms in medical school, Stanley was determined to find a way to help them better understand how ECGs work, and how they can better understand and use them as a diagnostic tool.
Stanley Walter Marion was born in 1911 and was a WWII U.S. Army Veteran. A University of Chicago and John Marshall Law School Graduate, Stanley served the public for over 45 years as a private practice attorney. Stanley married Genevieve (Raczka) Marion in 1941. Together they had one child, a daughter, Judith Petrungaro and also raised a nephew, John Bogren. From there they have 5 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Stanley’s relationship with Dr. Arnsdorf was not the normal patient-doctor relationship so many of us have today. Stanley took great interest in his health and often questioned test results, medications, and upcoming procedures, to the point where he was actually educating his own doctors. One of the greatest things Mort shared with the Marion-Petrungaro family after Stanley’s death was the passion and drive he had in ensuring his health care was a priority. In doing this, he formed a strong relationship with Dr. Arnsdorf, who then became a family friend.
Stanley W. Marion passed away in 2004 at the age of 92, followed by the death of his wife, Genevieve Marion in 2010 at the age of 94. When Dr. Arnsdorf assumed Stanley as a patient in 1995, his life expectancy was only 3 years. Stanley surpassed those three years thanks to Dr. Arnsdorfs willingness to not only be a physician to Stanley, but also a listener, which allowed him to better diagnose and treat Stanley’s condition.
Stanley and Genevieve’s legacy and philanthropy lives on through their daughter, Judith Petrungaro and granddaughter, Gina Misch. Thanks to Judy and Gina’s dedication and the willingness of several doctors at the University of Chicago to step up and take over the project after Dr. Arnsdorfs death in 2010, the vision that Stanley and Mort had so long ago has finally been completed.