Dila Vuksanaj MD FAAP

Dila Vuksanaj, MD, FAAP, passed away Monday, August 3, 2009 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.Friends and associates are invited to gather with her family Saturday, August 8th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Graymere Country Club, 2100 Country Club Lane, Columbia for a celebration of her life. Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com.Dila was born February 13, 1955 in Gusinje, Montenegro to Gjelina Vuksanaj of Yonkers, New York and the late Llesh Vuksanaj. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in Bronx, New York in 1972. She then attended Lehman College, where she received a BS degree in Biochemistry in 1976. Four years later, she earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. She did her residency in pediatrics at Long Island Jewish Hospital in New Hyde Park, New York.Further specializing in her field, Dila complete a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas. There, she worked as a pediatric anesthesiologist for the next nine years and started her family. She and her family then relocated to Tennessee where she has practiced pediatric anesthesiology at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for the past thirteen years.In addition to her mother, she is survived by her husband, Dr. Jacques Heibig of Columbia; daughter, Jennifer Heibig of Columbia; sisters, Lula Camaj (Doda)of White Plains, New York, Susan Jaku (Doda)of Bronx, New York, Ana Vuksanaj (Jeff Griffin) Monroe, North Carolina, Diella Plumaj (Leka)of Farmington Hills, Michigan; brothers, Peter Vuksanaj (Lilijana)of Yonkers, New York, Nue Vuksanaj (Drita)of Millwood, New York, Nikoll Vuksanaj (Mara)of Mt. Kisco, New York, Pashko Vuksanaj (Joyati Ray-Chaudhuri)of Yonkers, New York; seven nieces and ten nephews. Memorials may be made to CASA of Maury County, 22 Public Square, Suite 2, Columbia, TN 38401 (www.casamaurycounty.org), a local organization assisting troubled youth in the community.Oakes & Nichols Funeral Directors are assisting the family with arrangements.