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Samuel Frank Nebel ’41

Samuel F. Nebel ’41, August 5, 2005, in Everett, Washington. Samuel earned a BA in biology, and then attended the University of Oregon Medical School where he met Eleanor C. Hart, a nurse whom he married in 1942. He graduated with an MD in 1943, and interned at Multnomah County Hospital in Portland, before serving in the U.S. Army as a battalion surgeon in the Pacific Theatre. For his service he received two Bronze Stars. In 1946, he opened a practice in Arlington, Washington. He was a compassionate individual, a poet and painter, who loved hiking as well as classical music. And he was a tireless "old-school" doctor, who exchanged his service for produce, firewood, or whatever was offered to him by those struggling to survive. Samuel's focus on treating the physical ailments of the mentally ill in South Mountain, Pennsylvania in the ’80s, made it possible for many to leave institutions to which they had been committed. He had a reverence for the aging and the young alike. Professional associations included membership in the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Practice, and Cascade Surgical Club. He was on the staff at Providence Hospital in Everett for over 30 years, was a member of the Arlington School Board for six years, and was also choir director at Our Saviour’s Lutheran church in Arlington. Samuel hiked in the Olympic mountain range, a place he loved, with members of his family into his late seventies. He dealt with the aftermath of a stroke he had in 1998 with dignity and tenacity. Survivors include his four daughters and two sons, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. His wife died in 2003.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 2005

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