survived by his beloved wife of 71 years, Betty. He also has three children, Dr. Kenneth
Anthone and his wife Karen, Peggy Walker and her husband Randall Thompkins, and Cathy
Bern and her husband Marc. He was a grandfather to six grandchildren: Rachel Rind, Julia
Barno, Brittany Caldwell, James Walker, Natalie Anthone and Emma Bern and three great
grandchildren: Boaz, Shayna, and Aviva.
Dr. Anthone committed his life to serving mankind as a researcher, physician, surgeon and
teacher. He had an extensive history of extraordinary medical milestones in Western New York.
He and his identical twin brother, Dr. Sidney Anthone, were pioneers in kidney transplantation.
Together they saved the lives of thousands and touched countless more.
Roland graduated from Harvard College in 1946 and then graduated from the University of
Buffalo medical school in 1955, where he would eventually be a Clinical Professor of Surgery.
He completed his surgical residency at Buffalo General Hospital and the Children’s Hospital.
In 1955 Roland and his brother Sidney helped initiate a hemodialysis service at Buffalo General
Hospital. They built the original hemodialysis machines that were first used for patients with
renal disease. Hemodialysis was the only treatment option in the early 1960’s. This original
blood filtering process was extremely time consuming for the patients using them. Because of
this, the Drs. Anthones dedicated themselves to researching and developing a transplant
program that would better the quality of life for those suffering from renal disease. Together in
1964, the brothers performed the first kidney transplant in Western New York and went on to
initiate comprehensive and extensive transplant programs at Buffalo General Hospital and
Buffalo Children’s Hospital. In 1979 the doctors helped establish the Western New York Artificial
Kidney Center, the area’s first dialysis unit outside of the hospital.
In the 1970’s, Roland was president of the surgical staff at Buffalo Children’s Hospital.
He was president of the Buffalo Surgical Society, and SUNY Buffalo Medical Alumni
Association. He was also president of the National Network Coordinating Council #26 for End
Stage Renal Disease.
Roland received numerous awards and honors for his research, service, and dedication to the
field of medicine. He received the “Gift of Life” award from the National Kidney Foundation of
WNY, the Harvard “Alumnus of the Year” in 1996 by the Harvard - Radcliffe Club of WNY, the
Robert S. Berkson MD Memorial Award from SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine for
recognition of compassion in patient care and excellence in the art of teaching (1990), Mitchell I
Rubin Lifetime Achievement Award in Pediatric Nephrology by Women and Children’s Hospital
of Buffalo (1992), the Special Service Recognition Award by the Junior Board of the Buffalo
General Hospital (1993), a certificate of recognition for contribution to Biomedical Engineering in
WNY from SUNY at Buffalo, the Healthcare Industries Association (1996), and the Lifetime
Career Achievement Award from the Medical Alumni Association School of Medicine and
Biochemical Sciences, SUNY at Buffalo.
Roland and his brother Sidney were the authors of over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
They were both members of the Board of Directors of the Organ Procurement Agency of WNY
(1983-1984) and Upstate New York Transplant Services.
In retirement, Dr. Anthone continued to receive accolades and awards. In 2017, at the age of
95, he was the recipient of another “Gift of Life” award from the Upstate New York Transplant
Services (UNYTS).
Roland was a proud veteran of World War II.
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