Dr.
Natalia
Tanner
Cain,
trail-blazer
and
physician
dies at
age of
96
DETROIT,
MI - Dr.
Natalia
Tanner
Cain, a
second-generation
black
physician
in an
era when
that was
unheard
of at
the
beginning
of the
last
century
passed
away
peacefully
on
Saturday,
July 14,
2018, in
Southfield,
Michigan.
She was
96.
There
will be
a public
viewing
for
friends
and
family
from
10-4
p.m. on
Friday,
August
3rd at
Swanson
Funeral
Home
West,
located
at 14751
W. Mc
Nichols
Detroit,
MI.
48235
The
Delta
Sigma
Theta
Sorority
will
perform
an Omega
Omega
ceremony
for Dr.
Tanner
Cain
from 6-7
p.m. on
Friday,
August
3rd at
Plymouth
United
Church
of
Christ,
600 East
Warren
Ave,
Detroit,
MI
48201.
On
Saturday,
August
4th
there
will be
a family
hour
from 10
a.m.- 11
a.m.
followed
by the
funeral
at 11 am
at
Plymouth
United
Church
of
Christ
600 E
Warren
Ave,
Detroit,
MI
48201.
In lieu
of
flowers,
the
family
will be
establishing
a
scholarship/memorial
fund in
honor of
Dr.
Tanner
Cain.
Details
of the
fund
will
follow
at a
later
date.
Born in
Jackson,
Mississippi,
Dr.
Tanner
Cain
moved to
Chicago
where
her
father,
Dr.
Joseph
Rush
Tanner
was an
internist.
Her
mother,
Doris
Murphy
Tanner,
was a
trailblazer
in her
own
right as
a
chemist
at Union
Carbide
and a
pilot
with the
Tuskegee
Air
Corps.
Dr.
Natalia
Tanner
Cain,
also
known as
Tal, was
the only
child
from
this
union.
Dr.
Tanner
Cain
graduated
from
Englewood
High
School
in 1939.
She
spent
the
first
two
years of
her
undergraduate
education
at Fisk
University
in
Nashville,
Tennessee.
She was
initiated
into the
Alpha
Beta
chapter
of Delta
Sigma
Theta
Sorority.
She then
transferred
to the
University
of
Chicago's
premedical
program.
After
earning
her
bachelor's
degree,
she
attended
Meharry
Medical
College
in
Nashville.
On June
20,
1945,
she
would
marry
Dr.
Waldo L.
Cain.
Their
marriage
would
last 61
years
and
produced
two
daughters,
Sheila
Cain,
Esq. and
Dr.
Anita
Cain.
Dr.
Waldo
Cain
died in
2011.
After
graduating
from
Meharry
in 1946,
Dr.
Tanner
Cain
moved to
New York
City,
where
she was
an
intern
at
Harlem
Hospital.
In 1968,
Dr.
Tanner
Cain
became a
professor
at Wayne
State
University’s
School
of
Medicine,
while
continuing
to
practice
medicine;
she was
appointed
a full
professor
in 1992.
In 1983,
she
became
the
first
woman
and
first
African-American
to be
named
the
president
of the
Michigan
chapter
of the
American
Academy
of
Pediatrics.
She
would
later
become
the
first
African-American
physician
on staff
at a
still-segregated
Children’s
Hospital
of
Michigan.
Dr.
Tanner
Cain
would go
on to
practice
medicine
for more
than 40
years in
Detroit.
Her
professional
achievements
are
numerous
and
prodigious
including,
but not
limited
to;
Outstanding
Achievement
Award in
Adolescent
Medicine,
Chair of
the
Society
for
Adolescent
Medicine
and
Pediatrics,
National
Medical
Association
honors
and the
Distinguished
Warrior
Award,
Detroit
Urban
League.
Dr.
Tanner
Cain was
a member
of The
Links
Incorporated
and was
one of
the
founding
members
of the
Southfield
Alumnae
chapter
of Delta
Theta
Sigma.
Both Dr.
Tanner
Cain and
her
husband
were
individually
honored
with
Wayne
State
University’s
School
of
Medicine
Pathfinders
Award.
Her
family
includes
daughters
Sheila
and
Anita,
grandchildren
Tanner
and
Taylor
Longs
plus
numerous
nephews,
nieces
and
cousins
treasured
her
warm,
strict
but
giving
heart.
Dr.
Tanner
Cain
believed
in
giving
back to
young
doctors
and
people
in
general.
And for
that,
her
legacy
will
live on
for
generations.
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