A lifetime of dedication to the old in his Kentucky home.

He spent tens of thousands of hours peering through the oculars of a microscope at stained brain tissue sections from thousands of patients who died with or without a neurodegenerative disorder; most of those patients he had himself cared for and had removed and processed their brain tissues upon their death. His discerning mind, humble demeanor, optimism and patience were fundamental features of his character. Through his research discoveries and advocacy, Dr. William R. Markesbery fought for those millions of elderly Americans with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their families and friends. For over a decade, my laboratory was located directly above Dr. Markesbery's in the Sanders-Brown Research Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. In this article, I first provide several examples of how he moved research on AD forward on multiple fronts, not only by building one of the best AD Research Centers in the world, but also by providing a helping hand to the tens of thousands of Kentuckian's and their families to ease their suffering as best he could. Also described below are the results of several research projects on which I had the good fortune of collaborating with Dr. Markesbery.