GILFILLAN, Dr. Edwin O.: Died 1990

GILFILLAN, MOON, SONDROL, HARL, MAHANNAH, MILSTEAD, LAUGHRIGE, PERRY

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 11/16/2020 at 09:34:18

Dr. Edwin Gilfillan dies in Florida

Dr. Edwin O. Gilfillan, 81, died Dec. 26, 1990 at his home in Englewood, Fla. He was the last surviving of five brothers who built the Gilfillan Clinic.

He was born Sept. 17, 1909 in Mount Pleasant to Dr. Homer John and Clara Moon Gilfillan. He married Carolyn A. Sondrol on Aug. 22, 1933 in Clear Lake.

After graduating in 1933 from the University of Iowa School of Medicine and interning at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich., he practiced medicine at Sault Polyclinic in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

In 1951, he joined four of his brothers who had established the Gilfillan Clinic in Bloomfield in 1946. He was an internal medicine specialist until retiring in 1973. The Gilfillans built the Gilfillan Clinic into a medical facility with specialists in several medical areas. They treated patients from more than half of the states. The Gilfillan Clinic closed Oct. 31, 1990.

He was a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II and United Methodist Church, Rotary Club, a life member of the Iowa Medical Society, the American Legion and 37th Division Veterans Association, a member of the Davis County Medical Society and the Society of Internal Medicine.

Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Carol Ann Harl of Columbia, Mo.; a son, Charles of Everett, Washington; four grandchildren; a great-grandson; and a sister, Dorothy Mahannah of Fort Dodge.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Pauline Milstead and Esther Gilfilian(err); and five brothers, William, Harold, C.D.N., Earl and Homer.

The funeral was held Monday, Dec. 31, 1990, at the Wagler Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. Ellis Andrews. Burial with military rites was held in the IOOF Cemetery in Bloomfield.

Memorials have been established to the Bloomfield United Methodist Church, the Avenue of Flags or the organization of the donor's choice.
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Edwin Gilfillan dies; Bloomfield era ends
By MATT KELLEY
Register Staff Writer

History has finally closed the books on the Gilfillan brothers and their famed clinic in Bloomfield.

Edwin Gilfillan, the last of five physician brothers who ran the Gilfillan Clinic in southern Iowa, died Wednesday of a heart attack at his home in Englewood, Fla. He was 81. The clinic, battered by hard economic times, closed its doors Oct. 31 after 44 years of operation.

"That's the end of it, it's all gone," said Mabel Laughrige, Gilfillan's former sister-in-law. "There just aren't any younger doctors to take charge of it anymore. It's kind of sad to lose that."

Four of the six Gilfillan brothers - George, Clarence, Earl and Homer Jr. - started the Gilfillan Clinic in 1946 after returning from military service. Edwin, an internal medicine specialist, joined the clinic in 1951 when George, Laughrige's first husband, died. Edwin Gilfillan worked at the clinic with his brothers until retiring to Florida in 1973. Another brother, Harold, ran his own medical practice in California.

At its height, the Bloomfield clinic had a staff of 17 doctors and drew patients from 39 states. But the lack of doctors willing to practice in small towns and the area's long-suffering rural economy forced the clinic to close this fall.

Edwin Gilfillan was born in Mount Pleasant and graduated from Central High School in Milton. After graduating from medical school at the University of Iowa, he served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps before starting his own practice in Michigan.

Edwin Gilfillan was the kind of person who dabbled in everything, Laughrige said. His hobbies included golf and photography, and he served on the local school board for a time.

"He was very personable," Laughrige said. "His patients all liked him."

So did his fellow doctors.

"He was always very friendly and helpful to me," said Dr. Henry Perry, who worked at Gilfillan Clinic.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Wagler Funeral Home in Bloomfield.

Edwin Gilfillan is survived by his wife, Carolyn; a daughter, Carol Ann Harl of Columbia, Mo.; a son, Charles of Everett, Wash.; a sister, Dorothy Mahannah of Fort Dodge; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Source: "The Hazel Stanford Obituary Collection", Pg. 79.4, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA

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