Obituaries

Howard B. HamiltonMedical Researcher, Noh Artist

Howard B. Hamilton, 88, a medical researcher who became a prominent practitioner of the Japanese theatrical art of Noh, died April 27 of endocarditis, or a heart infection, at his home in Falls Church.

Dr. Hamilton was born in Oak Park, Ill., and graduated from the University of Rochester in New York. He was a 1942 graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine and served in the Navy during and immediately after World War II.

After an internship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Hamilton conducted research at the Long Island School of Medicine and at the New York College of Surgeons for about 10 years in the 1940s and '50s. During his time in New York, he studied modern dance with Martha Graham and May O'Donnell.

As a young Navy officer, Dr. Hamilton was assigned to the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in Hiroshima, a presidentially authorized commission to study the effects of radiation on victims of nuclear explosions. In 1956, Dr. Hamilton settled in Hiroshima, working as a civilian researcher with the commission and later with the Radiation Effects Research Foundation and National Academy of Sciences. He was chief of the blood laboratory for the study.

While living in Japan, Dr. Hamilton became a dedicated student of the ancient Japanese theatrical art of Noh, which often features dramatic masks and carefully defined movements. He performed in traditional festivals and was sometimes interviewed by the Japanese media.

In 1986, Dr. Hamilton moved to Falls Church, where he catalogued Noh and Kabuki works and translated and published Noh plays. He was also interested in other theatrical arts, including opera, dance and Shakespeare.

Survivors include a brother and a sister.

Richard Patrick 'Dick' MasonArmy Physician

Richard Patrick "Dick" Mason, 97, a physician and retired Army colonel who commanded the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, died of congestive heart failure April 9 at Fairfax Nursing Center in Fairfax City.

Dr. Mason was born in Cawker City, Kan., and lived in Washington state and the Philippines while his father was in the Army. He graduated from Washington University medical school in St. Louis in 1936 and began his medical internship with the Army.

During World War II, Dr. Mason served in North Africa and Europe, establishing medical laboratories for the diagnosis and treatment of soldiers with typhus, typhoid and cholera. In 1945, he entered the Dachau concentration camp as part of the first medical team to treat camp survivors.

When Dr. Mason returned to the United States, he worked in public health and epidemiology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and with the Army's Office of the Surgeon General. He traveled throughout southwest Asia seeking to control endemic diseases and improve public health in the region.

During the Korean War, Dr. Mason directed the medical care of North Korean prisoners of war held in South Korea. After a year in Korea and two years in Tokyo in command of the Army's 406th Medical General Laboratory, he returned to Washington to the surgeon general's office.