This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 2, 2009 - The life of Dr. Richard M. Torack, which was spent researching the mysteries of the mind and how to keep our brains functioning well longer, will be celebrated in a funeral Mass on Saturday. Dr. Torack died of Alzheimer's Disease at Delmar Gardens of Meramec Valley in Fenton. He was 81.
As an original member of the innocuous-sounding "Tuesday Brown Bag Series" organized in the early '70s by Dr. Leonard Berg at Washington University, Dr. Torack joined colleagues in working to illuminate the secrets of dementia. The series led to the Memory and Aging Project, which developed into the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University, one of the world's leading programs for Alzheimer's research.
"Richard Torack was a pioneer in the neuropathology of dementing illnesses and played a key role in initiating dementia research at Washington University," said Dr. John C. Morris, a professor of neurology there.
Dr. Morris, who claimed Dr. Torack as a mentor, said the two co-authored seven papers in the early years after he joined the Research Center. He said Dr. Torack was known for his broad knowledge and innate curiosity.
"His publications were not restricted to the field of dementia, but included many other neuropathological disorders," Dr. Morris said. "He also had a keen interest in unexplored scientific questions and an infectious enthusiasm for research."
Dr. Torack's insatiable desire for knowledge was recognized and encouraged early.
He was born in Passaic, N.J., and completed high school at 16. After earning his undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., he served four years in the U.S. Air Force. He attained the rank of captain.
Following his discharge from the Air Force, he earned his medical degree from Georgetown University. He did his residency and internship at Montefiore Hospital (now Medical Center) in Bronx, N.Y., in the late 1950s, where he mastered the application of electron microscopic techniques in the study of human brain disorders, a skill that would later serve him well in Alzheimer's research. After completing his residency, he served as an assistant professor at Yale University and later an associate professor at Cornell University.
Dr. Torack was destined to practice medicine; his mother said so.
"My grandmother was determined that her two sons were going to be a doctor and a lawyer," said Dr. Torack's eldest son, Richard M. Torack Jr. "Edward was going to be the lawyer and so he was; Uncle Edward recently retired as a judge of the Superior Court for the state of New Jersey. My grandmother decided that Dad was going to be a doctor. To help make it happen, Dad's parents sold their house and bought a little mom-and-pop store - I think it was in Garfield, N.J. - to help pay for Dad's schooling."
His military service also helped him pay for medical school and Dr. Torack returned the favor by serving as an Air Force flight surgeon in the early 1950s.
In 1968, Dr. Torack joined the faculty of the Department of Pathology of Washington University, moving his young family to Glendale where he lived until his health failed in recent years. At Washington University, he did research and authored or co-authored the institution's earliest publications on dementing illnesses.
"Research was where his passion lay," Richard Torack Jr. said. "He retired in 1992 or 1993, but Wash U allowed him to keep his lab and continue his research. He continued to receive grant money for his research for several years after he officially retired.
"He continued to work on his manuscripts and pursue his second love, travel. He took trips to Rome, Greece, Hungary, Egypt and Alaska. He was an avid reader, mostly of history and was proud of his library of books.
"My father was Hungarian. Hungarians love life; they are ribald. But most of all, he was a man of intellect; everything in his life was driven by intelligence. He studied the human mind; he loved his mind and he used it. He could take something rather mundane, like baseball stats, and elevate it to an intellectual pursuit. Consequently, he remembered every baseball stat for the past 40 years," Torack recalled laughing. "And at family dinners, intelligent argument was encouraged as long as you could marshal facts to support your argument."
Until 2005, Torack said, his father was still doing research and working on his latest manuscript, which would have been his fourth book. His first book, "Your Brain is Younger Than You Think," was written for the masses; the other two and his unfinished manuscript were geared toward the scientific community.
Dr. Torack would not complete his final book. After several years of declining health, he died Jan. 22 from Alzheimer's, the illness he had spent much of his life trying to understand and eradicate.
"The field of dementia will miss Richard M. Torack as one of the original and important contributors to the understanding of the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease, and I will miss him as a valued colleague and friend," said Dr. Morris.
In a final act on behalf of Alzheimer's research, Dr. Torack donated his brain to the Washington University School of Medicine.
Dr. Torack was preceded in death by his wife, Catherine 'Kit' Torack (nee Reagan) who was a nurse when they met during their days at Georgetown University. She died in 1995.
In addition to his brother Edward (Joann) of New Jersey and his sons Richard Jr. of St. Louis, Dr. Torack is survived by four other children: James (Pat) of Rock Hill, Thomas (Kaye Haldeman) of Oakland, Margaret (Andy) of Kirkwood, and William (Christi) of Glendale. He is also survived by grandchildren Ryan, Evan, Patrick, Ann, Ellen, Lee, J.P. and Kaitlyn.
Friends may call on the Torack family from 4-8 p.m., on Friday, at Bopp Chapel, 10610 Manchester Rd., in Kirkwood. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 676 West Lockwood. Interment will be at Resurrection Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Washington University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, 4488 Forest Park Parkway St. Louis, Mo. 63108.
Gloria Ross is the head of Okara Communications and the storywriter for AfterWords, an obituary-writing and production service.