A00221 - Christopher David Manuel, Amherst College Class of 1987, University of Chicago Laboratory High School (Chicago, Illinois), Northwestern University M.D., Practicing Anesthesiologist in Chicago

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Sponsored by:Kathie L. Webb Blair 

Dr Christopher D. Manuel

1964 – 2005 • Graceland Cemetery

• Memorial
• Photos 7
• Flowers 6

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Birth

25 Dec 1964

Death

27 Aug 2005 (aged 40)

Burial

Graceland Cemetery

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USAShow MapGPS-Latitude: 41.9606492, Longitude: -87.6615178

Memorial ID

· View Source

Anesthesiologist. Attended Northwestern Univ. Medical School, Chicago IL. Completed Residency at McGaw Medical Center Of Northwestern. Gained a reputation as a friendly, competent and thorough physician. At Rush University Medical Center, he stood out for taking on tough cases that others would shun, according to his obituary in the Chicago Tribune. Grave is next to that of Marshall Field and family, but facing in the other direction, i.e., away from the street.

Inscription

"In Memory of our Beautiful and Beloved Son Christopher."

"For all we know/this may only be a dream/We come and go/like ripples on a stream/For all we know/tomorrow may never come/For all we know"

Family Members

Parents

• 

  Linda C Manuel

  1930–2007

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Dr. Christopher D. Manuel was recruited by Rush University Medical Center only two years ago, but quickly gained a reputation as A friendly, competent and thorough physician.

“Chris was a well-trained, experienced and very, very mature anesthesiologist,” said Dr. Anthony Ivankovich, head of the hospital’s anesthesiology department.  “He could do basically all kinds of anesthesia, including pediatrics, and he easily started a rapport with everyone here— colleagues, nurses and students. Everyone loved him and they are heartbroken because. As they have all said, he was the nicest person.”

Dr. Manuel, 40, of Chicago, assistant professor of anesthesia and assistant attending on the medical staff, died Saturday, Aug. 27, while riding his bicycle along Lake Michigan. Results of an autopsy are pending. An interim death certificate states that he died of coronary failure.

According to his family, he was on his bike, then suddenly on the ground and he died instantly.

For Dr. Manuel, entering the medical field was a natural choice. 

“It is an old story of the vocation, the calling,” said his father, Ted.  “Basically, he just wanted to help people.”

He considered to becoming a surgeon, but found anesthesiology more appealing.  After graduating from Amherst College in Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in science, he received his medical degree in 1991 in anesthesia and pain management from Northwestern University.

He then interned at its hospital before moving to Ohio, where he became a partner in an anesthesiology group that served Parma Community General Hospital in Parma, Ohio, a suburb south of Cleveland. Wanting to return to his native Chicago, he accepted the position at Rush.

“He would talk about when he had a tricky moment or two, an especially challenging case,” his father said. “Anesthesia is a balancing act because you want to give the patient enough to put them under but not enough to compromise them. One of the tricky things is to anesthetize children because their tolerances are so tight and for that reason, some shy away from handling children, but not Chris.  He just went right at it.” 

Dr. Manuel was an avid reader. Books lined the shelves of two walls in his home. They included travel books on places he liked to visit, such as Europe.  He also enjoyed bodybuilding and put together his own vitamin regimen.

Other survivors include his mother, Linda; his sister, Perri Lynn Irmer; and his girlfriend, Christina Ruggiero. 

Services have been held.

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In Memory

Christopher David Manuel, MD, Class of ’87, suddenly collapsed and died of natural causes on August 27, 2005 while bicycling with his ladyfriend along the shore of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. Prompt emergency room efforts to resuscitate him were to no avail. He was forty years of age.

Chris earned his doctorate at Northwestern medical school’s Chicago campus in 1991. They conferred his specialty in anesthesiology in 1995.

For eight years, he was a partner in a private anesthesiology group in Parma, OH, a Cleveland suburb. In 2003, he relocated to Chicago’s Rush-Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was a practicing anesthesiologist, an assistant professor of anesthesiology, and head of the anesthesiology quality assurance committee. He also held the title of diplomate, conferred by the Board of Anti-Aging Medicine.

With ease he handled the gamut of challenging surgical cases as needed, from babies and small children to heart transplants on the elderly. He actively mentored newcomers to the field.

He was an audiophile, a fitness buff, an avid reader, and enjoyed travel.

Single, he is survived by his parents, Linda and Ted Manuel, a sister, Perri Lynn Irmer, and his significant other, Christina Ruggiero. He is interred at Graceland Cemetery, Chicago.

—Ted Manuel

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Deceased August 27, 2005

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Contact

Nickname

• Chris

Family

No data available

Personal

No data available

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Professional

Employment Information

Former

• Rush University Medical Center

  Start:

  11/2003

  End:

  08/2005
• Resident

  Northwestern University

  Start:

  01/1991

  End:

  01/1995

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Amherst

Reunion Class

• 1987

Graduation Year

• 1987

Major(s)

• Biology

Other Academic

Secondary Schools

• University of Chicago Laboratory High School

Higher Ed

• Northwestern University

  Field of Study:

  Medicine

  Degree:

  Doctor of Medicine

  Year:

  1991

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Amherst

• Charles Drew House
• Pond Dormitory
• Pratt Dormitory

Volunteering

• Alumni Fund

  Role:

  Associate Agent

  Start:

  February 2004

  End:

  April 2005

Post-Graduate

No data available

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