The ACHA community was deeply saddened by the loss of longtime ACHA board member Dr. George H. Warren on April 29, 2013. George was born in 1947 with tetralogy of Fallot, and underwent heart surgery in 1955 and 1964 for his defect. He graduated from Harvard College in 1969, and received his MD from Temple Medical School in 1975. For more than 30 years he worked as a pathologist at the University of Colorado and the Rose Medical Center.
George first became a member of the ACHA Board of Directors in 2004, and served from 2004-2010 and 2011-the present. He led the development of ACHA’s national ACHD program survey and online directory, and helped create ACHA’s Heart to Heart Ambassador Program. A lifelong Red Sox fan, George delivered passionate remarks about his life as a longtime CHD survivor proudly clad in a Red Sox hat and shirt. He helped lead teams of CHD patients, family members, and physicians as they spoke to Congress at ACHA’s 2013 Advocacy Day (at left, with ACHA Member Services Manager Paula Miller), and he spent the last weekend of his life attending an ACHA Board training.
George frequently remarked that he considered all ACHA members his friends, some of whom he had not yet met. Although an exceptionally gentle person, George fought fiercely on behalf of the CHD community. Through his national advocacy efforts, his hard work on ACHA programs, and his inspiring presence, his life touched thousands of CHD patients and family members. ACHA will continue to honor his legacy through our unfailing devotion to his favorite cause: Improving and extending the lives of congenital heart survivors like himself.