Dr. FREDERICK FUERSTE, Jr.

BROWN, FUERSTE, SKAGEN, SMITH, LIABOE, ROACH

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 3/5/2003 at 14:57:51

Dr. Frederick Fuerste Jr.

Telegraph Herald - Thursday, February 27, 2003

Dr. Frederick Fuerste Jr., 81, of 130 S. Booth St., died Tuesday evening, Feb. 25, 2003, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, of a head injury following a fall.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Burial will be in Linwood Cemetery. Friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. today at Siegert-Didesch Colonial Funeral Home, 390 N. Grandview Ave., and after 10 a.m. Friday at the church.

He was born in St. Louis, on Dec. 9, 1921, first son of Frederick Sr. and June (Brown) Fuerste.

He grew up in Dubuque, attending Irving School and Washington Junior High School, and graduating from Dubuque Senior High School in 1939. He attended the University of Dubuque for one year and transferred to the University of Iowa, Iowa City, graduating summa cum laude. He attended the University of Iowa College of Medicine, graduating in 1945. He was selected for the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and the AOA Honor Medical Society.

He interned at Cook County Hospital and Jail from 1945-1946. He then enlisted in the Navy and was stationed at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Cheyenne, Wyo.

While in Wyoming, Frederick met and married a nurse, Marion Skagen, on Dec. 28, 1948. Together they pursued Frederick's medical career with an ophthalmology residency at Milwaukee County Hospital, followed by an ophthalmology fellowship in St. Louis.

Frederick and Marion returned to Dubuque in 1953, when Frederick took over his father's eye, ear, nose and throat practice. Together, Frederick and Marion built the small practice into the current Fuerste Eye Clinic. They also raised six children in Dubuque and nurtured them into a close-knit and loving family.

Frederick loved playing competitive tennis, running, water-skiing and flying. He loved music, but not dancing! He was an excellent trumpet player and played with the University of Iowa Marching Band. He sat in his son Hunter's bands when coerced. He had an insatiable appetite for learning. He constantly was reading and teaching his grandchildren math, physics and calculus, after having given up on his own children.

Frederick was a great husband, father and physician who tirelessly pursued excellence in all his endeavors.

Surviving are his wife of 54 years, Marion (Skagen) Fuerste; three daughters, Nanette (Bob) Smith, Gretchen (Mark Liaboe) Fuerste and Madelin Louise; three sons, Frederick Hunter, Charles Rommel (Donnelle) and Garth Rodman; two brothers, William C. (Margaret) Fuerste and Karl W. (June) Fuerste, of Stuart, Fla.; nine grandchildren, Cole and Wade Fuerste, Jamie and Ryan Roach, Sydney and Rory Smith and Lauren, Fritz and Chase Liaboe; and the Fuerste Eye Clinic staff.

He was preceded in death by his parents, June (Brown) Fuerste, in 1991, and Frederick Fuerste Sr., in 1953.

Memorials may be given to the University of Iowa College of Medicine and the University of Iowa Ophthalmology Department, where Frederick was highly regarded.

Telegraph Herald - Friday, February 28, 2003

Brother Remembers Pioneering Dubuque Ophthalmologist.

Dies following fall: Frederick was a skilled surgeon, accomplished musician, loving father

The death of a pioneering Dubuque eye doctor elicited memories of a skilled surgeon, accomplished musician, loving father and even an occasional rival.

Dr. Frederick Fuerste, Jr., 81, died Tuesday at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics of a head injury following a fall.

"We were 13 months apart and we had quite a rivalry," said his brother, 80-year-old William (Bill) Fuerste, of Dubuque. "He and I were always at odds, but in a good-natured way."

While Frederick Fuerste the ophthalmologist stood up for medicine and science, his brother the attorney advocated for law and the arts.

"He couldn't understand the legal process and how there could be more than one solution to a legal problem," Bill Fuerste said, "and him, with his only one answer to a medical problem."

If his brother could not understand the law, it was one item on a short list of things he failed to grasp, Bill Fuerste said.

"He was an insatiable student, especially of the sciences," Bill Fuerste said.

Frederick Fuerste, Jr. grew up in Dubuque but was born in St. Louis on Dec. 9, 1921, the first son of Frederick Fuerste, Sr. and June Fuerste.

Bill Fuerste said his brother collected straight-A grades during an educational career at Dubuque Senior High School, the University of Dubuque and the University of Iowa.

"Fred was always an outstanding student," Bill Fuerste said.

Frederick Fuerste graduated from the University of Iowa College of Medicine in 1945 and embarked on a medical career that included stops in Chicago, Cheyenne, Wyo., Milwaukee and St. Louis.

While in Wyoming, Fuerste married a nurse, Marion Skagen, on Dec. 28, 1948.

The pair returned to Dubuque in 1953 so Frederick could take over an eye, ear, nose and throat medical practice from his ailing father.

"He just gradually gravitated to eyes alone," Bill Fuerste said.

Frederick Fuerste practiced until March 1995.

Bill Fuerste said his brother became renowned for his medical prowess.

"He was an incredible, very much admired surgeon," Bill Fuerste said. "He could tie knots inside a matchbox."

Frederick Fuerste also excelled in music and athletics.

"At one time he was a very serious tennis player," Bill Fuerste said. "He was always very physically fit."

Frederick and Marion Fuerste raised six children, of whom three - Drs. F. Hunter, C. Rommel Fuerste and Gretchen Fuerste - followed in his career path as ophthalmologists.

Frederick Fuerste is survived by his wife, three daughters and three sons.

"He was a very loving father, a very loving person," Bill Fuerste said. "He was a very remarkable person."