Natalia Tanner Cain, M.D., a former professor of Pediatrics for the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the first African-American physician to join the staff at Children's Hospital of Michigan, died July 14, 2018. She was 96.
Dr. Tanner Cain, the first woman and African-American to be named president of the Michigan chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, practiced medicine for more than 40 years in Detroit. She joined the WSU faculty in 1968, and attained the rank of full professor in 1992.
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Dr. Tanner Cain moved to Chicago where her father, Joseph Rush Tanner, M.D., 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. Tanner Cain spent the first two years of her undergraduate education at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. 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. After graduating from Meharry in 1946, Dr. Tanner Cain moved to New York City, to serve as an intern at Harlem Hospital.
Among her many awards and achievements, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award in Adolescent Medicine, was chair of the Society for Adolescent Medicine and Pediatrics, received National Medical Association honors and the Distinguished Warrior Award from the Detroit Urban League. She 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 the Wayne State University School of Medicine Pathfinders Award.
She is survived by her daughters, Sheila Cain, Esq., and Dr. Anita Cain; grandchildren, Tanner and Taylor Longs; and numerous nephews, nieces and cousins. She was predeceased by her husband of 61 years, Waldo Cain, M.D., a former clinical professor of Surgery for the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
A public viewing for friends and family is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 3 at Swanson Funeral Home West, located at 14751 West McNichols Road, Detroit, 48235. The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority will perform an Omega ceremony for Dr. Tanner Cain from 6 to 7 p.m. Aug. 3 at Plymouth United Church of Christ, 600 East Warren Ave., Detroit, 48201. On Aug. 4, a family hour is scheduled from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by the funeral at 11 a.m. at the church.
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.