Obituary: Gunnar Quisling - Class of 1929

Family Noted in Medical Profession
Dr. Gunnar Quisling Dies at 41; Co-Founder of Clinic Here

Member of a Madison family long distinguished in medicine here, a physician whose World War II services in his profession won him the Legion of Merit citation, Dr. Gunnar D. Quisling, 41, of 2718 Van Hise Avenue, died Sunday at this home, following a long illness.

Dr. Quisling was one of the co-founders of the Quisling clinic here, and he was associated there in his profession with his brothers, Drs. Abraham A., Rolf A., and Sverre Quisling. His father, the late Dr. A. A. Quisling, was a longtime practitioner here.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Our Savior's Lutheran church. The Rev. Nils C. Osleby, pastor, will officiate and burial will be at Roselawn Memorial Park.

The body will be taken from the Frautschi funeral home at noon Tuesday to the church.

Pallbearers will be Clayton Auchue, Dr. Norman Clausen, William O'Brien Doherty, Dr. Leslie Hofsteen, Harold Johnson, John McGovern.

DR QUISLING, during his long illness, had requested that funeral floral tributes be omitted, The family has asked that instead, contributions may be made to Roundy's Fun Fund for crippled children of the Madison community.

A native of Madison, Dr. Quisling attended local schools and the University of Wisconsin. He received his medical degree at the University of Illinois.

Following his graduation, he interned at the St. Louis City hospital, St. Louis, and in 1932, studied in Vienna, Austria.

UPON HIS RETURN to Madison in 1933, he, in partnership with his three brothers, including his twin, Dr. Rolf A., formed the Quisling clinic. It was originally located on King st., but later moved to its present site a 2 W. Gorham st.

During World War II, Dr. Quisling, with the rank of medical corps major, served in Europe and was with troopers during the Normandy invasion.

General Dwight S. Eisenehower, general of the armies, awarded him the Legion of Merit for his work in developing a foreign body locator, a device used during the war to locate pieces of shrapnel in the wounded servicemen.

Dr. Quisling also perfected the basic design for gas masks use by soldiers required to wear glasses. The work was done at Camp Stewart, Ga., where Dr. Quisling was an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist. He also did specialized work on poison gases at the camp.

DR. QUISLING was a first cousin of the Norwegian Nazi leader, Vidkum, Quisling and the Madison physician said his cousin had been "poisoned" by German propaganda and urged Vidkim Quisling's trial as a war criminal. The Norwegian Quisling was executed for treason in November 1945.

Dr. Quisling belonged to numerous service and veterans' groups here, and to the Sons of Norway.

Dr. Quisling is survived by his wife, the former Helen Anderson; two sons, Ronald and Richard, and a daughter, Carolyn, all at home.

Also surviving are his mother, Mrs. A.A. Quisling, Sr., 421 N. Paterson st., the three brothers with whom he was associated in the medical profession, and a fourth brother, Axel, who is like wise identified with the Quisling clinic.

Note: The above was originally in The Capital Times on March 10, 1951. At this time, obituaries were still "news stories," written by newspaper staff, not families. Gunnar Quisling's senior class photograph (below) appears next to that of his twin brother, Ralph [sic] in the 1929 edition of the Tychoberahn, the yearbook of Madison High School (later renamed Central High School).