Herbert Christianson, Dermatologist, Dies
Times Picayune  08-28-1996

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Dr. Herbert B. Christianson, a retired New Orleans dermatologist, died
Saturday in Arlington Heights, Ill. He was 81.

Dr. Christianson was born in Sheldon, Wis., and lived in New Orleans for the
past 40 years.

He graduated from Superior State College in Wisconsin and was valedictorian of
the Marquette University School of Medicine in 1939. He did his internship at
Milwaukee County General Hospital in Wauwatosa, Wis.

He was an Army veteran of World War II and was the first doctor to cross the
Owen Stanley Mountains in New Guinea during action against the Japanese. He
was awarded the Purple Heart.

From 1947-51, he was health director in Superior, Wis. He received his
certification in dermatology at the Mayo Clinic and Foundation in 1956. After
practicing medicine for a year in Denver, he moved to New Orleans to join the
department of dermatology at Ochsner Clinic. He was chairman of the department
for 18 years.

Dr. Christianson was well known as a clinical diagnostician, able to recognize
underlying physical problems from skin conditions, and was a clinical
professor of dermatology at the Tulane and Louisiana State University medical
schools. He was the author of more than 30 articles in medical journals. He
was named Practitioner of the Year by the American Academy of Dermatology in
1989.

He was a past president of the Interurban Academy of Medicine, the Louisiana
Dermatological Society, the Noah Worcester Dermatology Society and the
Southeastern Dermatologic Association.

Survivors include two sons, H. Brian Christianson of Arlington Heights and
Peter M. Christianson; a daughter, Mary C. Pigott of Wilmette, Ill.; and six
grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Thursday at noon at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral
Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. Visitation will be today from 7 to 9 p.m. and
Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon.