Pictured: Dr. Char is in the front row, seated, surrounded by, from left, Dr. Naleen Andrade, the late Dr. John McDermott and Dr. Anthony Guerrero, the former and current chairs of psychiatry at JABSOM.
The founding chair of Psychiatry at the University of Hawaiʻi medical school, Dr. Walter F. Char, died in Honolulu on November 20, 2018 at the age of 98.
He is survived by son Bruce and daughters Lisa and Cindy; grandchildren Emma, Nick, Matt, Katie, Tim, Carolyn, and Julia; and siblings Donald Char, Charlotte Wakatsuki, and Vernon Char. Born in Honolulu, Walter graduated from McKinley High School in 1938.
Like so of his generation from Hawaiʻi, he attended the University of Hawaiʻi — until World War II started, and he answered the call to serve, enlisting into the army. He attended Temple Medical School, receiving his M.D. in 1945. After being discharged from the Army with the rank of Captain, he returned to Philadelphia for further medical training. While on the East Coast, Walter met Mildred Chu, also from Honolulu, who was attending Columbia University for an M.S. in Education. They married in Honolulu in 1948 and lived for 14 years in Pennsylvania, where their three children were born.
Walter became board certified in psychiatry, child psychiatry, and psychoanalysis; was on the Temple Med faculty, and was head of the Child Psychiatry program of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
The family returned to Hawaiʻi in 1962. Walter became a Professor and the first chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at what would become the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) at the University of Hawaiʻi. His career in Hawaiʻi was as a psychiatrist, teacher, academic researcher, and mentor, training hundreds of Hawaiʻi’s physicians.
Walter valued raising his family with his wife, Millie, within their extended families and the Honolulu community. He traveled with Millie all over the world, and was an avid bowler, golfer, and follower of UH athletics.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the UH Foundation Char, McDermott, Andrade Endowed Professorship in Psychiatry or the charity of one’s choice.