Richard Henry Sundermann

Richard Henry Sundermann, MD, 91, died December 11, 2016 in Little Rock, Ark. He was born May 4, 1925 to John and Louise (Heidtbrink) Sundermann in Seward County, Nebraska. His four grandparents had settled there in the late 1880s as farm immigrants from the formerly free kingdom of Hanover, Germany, which had been invaded and occupied by Prussian military forces under Bismarck. He is survived by his adoring wife, Cornelia Jane, whom he married in 1950 in Jacksonville, Florida. He is also survived by his sons, Richard Jr. (Joan) of Russellville Ark., John (Cathy) of Greenwood S.C., and William (Gretchen) of Coppell Texas. He is survived by nine grandchildren: Julia, Jane, Suzanne, R. Henry III, Derek, Matthew, Alexander, Carter, and Evan. Other survivors include nieces, Karen (John) Maline and Becky (Dave) Schernikau; and nephews, Roger (Sharon) Mailand and Richard (Charlene) Mailand. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother, Erwin Sundermann; sister, Martha Mailand Rogers; grand-nephew, Brent Mailand; and several cousins, uncles, and aunts. Richard grew up on a farm three miles west of Garland, Neb. He attended Zion Lutheran Elementary School in Garland and graduated from Seward High School where he was editor of the yearbook and winner of his class's Regents scholarship to the University of Nebraska. He received a B.A. degree in 1947 at the University of Nebraska and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was accepted, without interview, at Vanderbilt University school of medicine in Nashville, Tennessee where he received his M.D. degree in June 1951. At Vanderbilt, he served one year as a general medical intern, followed by a residency in psychiatry. He was chief resident for two of these years. On July 4, 1955, he was called to active duty in the United States Army Medical Corps, and after five weeks basic training at the medical field services school at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, served the remainder of his tour as a staff psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. After four years of work at the veterans administration hospital in Perry Point, Maryland, he accepted an appointment to the faculty of the department of psychiatry at the University of Arkansas College of Medicine. He was head of the adult outpatient clinic from 1962 to 1978. He then became a full-time member of the psychiatric service staff at the Little Rock and North Little Rock VA hospitals, assigned to care of long-term patients and later the outpatient clinic, but primarily working as the psychiatric consultant to the general medical, surgical, and nursing home units. He retired in 1993 due to illness. Richard was certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and at age 65, successfully passed the first board examination ever offered in geriatric psychiatry. He was certified by the American Psychoanalytic Institute. He was a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of several other professional organizations. In his professional career, he cherished most a note he received when he left the VA hospital in Maryland: "To a doctor who made life worth living for patients and personnel on Ward 5." In his early retirement years, he enjoyed raising various species of digitalis (Foxglove) flowers from seed, and observing varieties of vegetation in their natural state behind the house he and Connie built in 1962, and lived in until his death. He was an avid reader, especially of history and poetry. He was a member of the First Christian Church of Little Rock. Memorials may be given to Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 4755, Seward, Neb. 68434 or one's favorite benevolent group. Services will be held on Monday, December 19 at 1 p.m., preceded by visitation beginning at 12 noon, at Little Rock Funeral Home, 8801 Knoedl Ct. (NW corner I-630 and Barrow Rd.), (501) 224-2200. Dr. Sundermann's online guestbook may be signed at www.littlerockfuneralhome.com.