Visitation begins at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9,
with a rosary to be held at 6:30 p.m. for Anselmo Alonso, M.D., a
transplant surgeon at UNMC. He died Sunday, Feb. 8, from injuries
suffered in a one-car accident. The visitation and rosary will be
held at the Heafey-Heafey-Hoffmann chapel at 78th Street
and West Center Road.
Funeral services will be held at 9:30 a.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 14330
Eagle Run Drive. Dr. Alonso, chief of cardiothoracic surgery and
assistant professor of surgery at UNMC, was on his way to work
Saturday, Feb. 7, when the accident occurred.
Colleagues at UNMC and Nebraska Health System
mourned his death:
- "He was such a young surgeon with a
remarkable record and a tremendous future ahead. We are
distressed that he was taken so early in life. The
Medical Center community grieves this great loss. Our
thoughts are now with his family." — Harold M.
Maurer, M.D., UNMC College of Medicine dean.
- "It’s always a shock when a
physician and surgeon of this importance is taken from a
medical staff. Everyone at the Nebraska Health System
will miss Dr. Alonso and we extend our deepest sympathies
to his family." — Louis W. Burgher, M.D.,
Ph.D., NHS president and CEO.
- "It’s just a tragedy to see
someone at the peak of his career with such a wonderful
family struck down." — Byers W. Shaw Jr., M.D.,
chief of surgery.
- "It’s a terrible loss for his
family, the Medical Center and the entire community. He
represented an individual who brought to Omaha and the
surrounding area an expertise in surgery that was really
second to none. But, more than that, the greatest
testimonial to Dr. Alonso is that he touched all the
people that he met — as a father, a friend and a
physician." — Alan Langnas, D.O., chief of
transplantation.
Dr. Alonso, 39, joined UNMC’s
cardiothoracic surgery program in 1992. He was promoted to
program chief earlier this year. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, he
performed heart and lung transplants, and other open-heart
surgical procedures.
Dr. Alonso earned his undergraduate and medical
degrees from the University of Puerto Rico. From 1984 to 1989, he
did his general surgery residency at University District Hospital
and Veterans Administration Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Dr. Alonso did his cardiothoracic residency at Ohio State
University and Columbus Childrens Hospital from 1990 to 1992.
He is survived by his wife, Annabel, who also
is a physician, and their four children. He also has two sons in
San Antonio.
Memorials can be made to the Dr. Anselmo Alonso
Memorial Fund, in care of the University of Nebraska Foundation,
8712 W. Dodge Road, Omaha, NE 68114.