STEPHENSON, Dr. Charles R.

STEPHENSON, MOON

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 6/14/2021 at 18:29:07

DR. CHARLES R. STEPHENSON

Friends have received word of the death of Dr. Charles R. Stephenson on April 15, at Ventura, Calif.

Dr. Charles was the son of Dr. Charles N. Stephenson and Addie Moon Stephenson, born August 10, 1910 in Milton. As he was growing up young Charles made many house calls with his father, Doc Steve as he was called by the community. Doc Steve was an old fashioned family doctor making his calls sometimes in the new fangled car, but most often in a horse drawn vehicle.

Charles graduated from the Milton High School in 1929, and played football and basketball in high school. He graduated from Medical School in 1938 and took a two years internship at Binghamton, N.Y. Hospital. He was a member of the Army reserve and before being called into service, he served as one of the corps of 30 physicians employed by Endicott Johnson Shoe Company, who had a complete medical care program for their employees and their families. Entering the service he was commissioned First Lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps, and in 1944 served on Marianna Island. He received his discharge from the army in November, 1945, and he and Mary Montgomery were married and went to Long Beach, Calif. to visit his mother and sister, Marjorie, and decided to set up practice in California.

Information for this article was from a feature story about Dr. Stephenson in a Ventura, Calif. newspaper. The article stated that in 1977 he was preparing for surgery for gall bladder, and tests disclosed severe heart trouble and he had triple by-pass surgery, March 1, 1977. He later had the gall bladder surgery.

The article continues, Dr. Stephenson had built his own office building, and had a long and rewarding career, serving some 20,000 patients over the years, and while he was officially an internist, some 80 percent of his practice was devoted to cardiology.

Dr. and Mrs. Stephenson traveled extensively through-out the world.

He summed up his story in the newspapers by saying, "The pleasure of satisfaction I found in my years of practice, I don't think I could have found in any other profession." This seems a fitting summary for his life, as well.

The body was cremated and the cremains will be returned to Iowa for burial.

Source: "The Hazel Stanford Obituary Collection", Pg. 176, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA