Pioneering pediatrician, active volunteer

Dr. Arno Ronald Hohn was beloved as a true gentleman, who treated everyone with kindness, fairness and dignity. He devoted his life’s work to the treatment of children with heart disease.

The Claremont resident died on March 21, 2014. He was 82.

Dr. Hohn was born in 1931 in New Jersey. He graduated from Passaic Valley High School in Littlefield, New Jersey in 1949. The “Valley Green” yearbook produced his senior year noted that young Arno had served as senior class president and was the school’s drum major. He was also voted Most Likely to Succeed.

He went on to graduate from New York Medical College in 1956. After serving in the Air Force, he became a faculty member at Buffalo’s Children’s Hospital and then at the Medical University of South Carolina. He next served as chief of the Division of Cardiology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles from 1984 through 1999.

Dr. Arno, as he was affectionately known, served as a professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California. His research focused on hypertension in pediatrics as well as heart problems in muscular dystrophy, HIV and premature infants. He received several “best teacher” awards, dedicated to teaching residents and fellows. Dr. Hohn also authored a number of papers and books in his areas of expertise, including the 1974 manual Basic Pediatric Electrocardiography.

In his spare time, Dr. Hohn was an avid outdoorsman and a member of the Claremont United Methodist Choir. After his retirement, he became active in Claremont Sunrise Rotary.

“Arno, your hugs and kindness will be missed,” Rotarian Karina Anderson recently posted on the Claremont Sunrise Rotary Facebook page.

Another Rotarian, Pam Bergman-Swartz, posted the following tribute, recalling her first meeting with Dr. Hohn when both were volunteering at the annual Claremont Turkey Trot.

“I learned Dr. Hohn was a retired pediatric cardiologist. What he failed to tell me, and what I learned later, was that he had 58 years experience in his field. He was a published author and highly respected by his peers,” she marveled. “Despite his age, he was still devoted to serving his community, coming out in the wee hours of the morning, helping with the set-up of the event.”

Dr. Hohn is survived by his wife, Pat Pruden; by his brother Fred and his wife Marsha and their two children; and by his three sons and their wives and children.

A memorial service for Dr. Arno Hohn will be held on Saturday, May 17 at 2:30 p.m. at the Claremont United Methodist Church, 211 W. Foothill Blvd. in Claremont.

In lieu of flowers, Arno wished donations to be made to: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, The Heart Institute, c/o Michelle Marcinial, 4650 Sunset Blvd. Mailstop #29, Los Angles, CA 90027. Donations will be directed to the cardiology fellowship program to train the next generation of pediatric cardiologists.