Dr. Pierce A. Rooney Jr. ’45 on Jan. 14, 2009.  The Sacramento native was a pioneering Sacramento County pathologist who investigated deaths ranging from sleeping babies to victims of notorious Northern California killers. In 1969, he became the first board-rtified forensic pathologist in Sacramento and did extensive research into causes of sudden infant death syndrome. He served as a prosecution witness at sensational trials and was a founding member of Diagnostic Pathology Medical Group Inc. He was a past president of the Sacramento County Medical Society and associate professor at UC Davis Medical School. He also attended Gonzaga University and served as a Navy officer on troop transport ships in the Pacific during World War II. He returned to Sacramento after graduating from Creighton University Medical School in 1950, delivering babies and making house calls as a general practitioner for several years before completing a residency in pathology at UC San Francisco School of Medicine. He had six children with his wife of 63 years, Barbara. Survivors include a son, Kevin ’73.