Dr. Rebecca Wappner

Dr. Rebecca Sue Wappner, 62 of Carmel, IN, died Wednesday, September 6, 2006 at home. Her death followed a six-month, brave and courageous battle with cancer. Rebecca was born in Mansfield, OH on February 25, 1944. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Ohio University in 1966 with a B.S. in Zoology. While attending O.U. she held memberships in Phi Beta Kappa, Mortar Board, Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Lambda Delta, Sigma Xi, and Iota Sigma Pi honoraries. Becky was also a member of Sigma Kappa sorority. Dr. Wappner received her M.D. degree in 1970 from The Ohio State University. She trained in Pediatrics at Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH prior to moving to Indianapolis. She was Professor of Pediatrics and of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine. She continued to work until shortly before her death as Staff Pediatrician and Director of Metabolism and Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, The James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children. She was also Director of the Pediatric Biochemical Genetics Laboratory, the Gaucher Treatment Center, and a consultant Pediatrician to Wishard Memorial Hospital. She was a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Medical Genetics. Dr. Wappner was a member of the American Society of Human Genetics, American Medical Association, American Medical Women's Association, Indianapolis Medical Society, Society for Inherited Metabolic Disease, the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism, and the International Society for Newborn Screening. She was the Indiana Project Director for the Detection and Management of Inborn Errors of Metabolism. Her publications were numerous, including Biochemical Diagnosis of Genetic Diseases, Genetics in Primary Care & Clinical Medicine, Physician's Guide to the Laboratory Diagnosis of Metabolic Diseases, and numerous chapters in OSKI'S PEDIATRICS: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. She was an active member of Soroptimist International.

Dr. Wappner will be sorely missed by her family, staff, patients, their families, and everyone whose life she touched. She was an extremely caring physician who was very loved and respected. Becky will be missed for her wit, her crazy sense of humor, and her endless generosity. She exuberated an overwhelming love for her patients. Dr. Wappner was preceded in death by her father, William H. Wappner, and is survived by her mother, Helen E. Wappner; sister and brother-in-law, Diane and David Kracker; nephew and his wife, Stephen and Erika Risser. Burial services will be private. A Memorial Service and Celebration of Life will be held at The First Congregational Church, 640 Millsboro Rd, Mansfield, OH 44903 on Tuesday September 12 at 11 a.m., and at Riley Hospital for Children on Thursday, September 21 at 6:00 p.m. The family has asked that donations be made to Riley Children's Foundation Dept. of Metabolism Endowment, or to The Richland County Foundation for The Dr. Rebecca S. Wappner Memorial Scholarship Fund.