Dr. Walter Geist Reich Jr.

REICH, Dr. Walter Geist, Jr., of New Port Richey, FL and formerly of York, PA died on Monday, November 24, 2014 after a long illness. He was 92. Born in High Point, NC, he was the only son of Pearl Ramsey Reich and Walter Geist Reich. His sister, Helen Reich Herr, predeceased him. He was a devoted husband to the late Eileen Thomas Reich for 51 years, and he is survived by four daughters: Linda Winchester, a former prosecutor/retired attorney of Tampa, FL; Catherine Smith of Odessa, FL, Vice- President of Community Relations at PAR, Inc; Mary Cooper of South Salem NY, Chief Quality Officer at the Connecticut Hospital Association; and Constance Murphy of Media PA, a nurse practitioner at University of Pennsylvania. He is also survived by four sons-in-law, eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Dr. Reich was a graduate of McCaskey High School and Franklin and Marshall College. Dr. Reich enlisted in the US Army during World War II. He was on active duty for four years and honorably discharged as a first lieutenant from the Army Medical Administrative Corps; he then served for years as an Army reserve officer. He graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, which he entered at age 37 after twelve years as a pharmaceutical representative for Upjohn. He was president of his medical school class for four years. Dr. Reich was a compassionate Family Practitioner, founding Mt. Rose Family Practice and practicing there for 35 years before retiring in 1996. He was on staff at Memorial Hospital in York, PA and at one time served as the Chair of Family Practice. He received numerous awards as a practicing physician. He was proud to have delivered more than 2,000 babies in the York County area. He was known for his ever-present positive outlook and for his perseverance in the face of adversity. He taught his daughters the same advice he received from his mother: "...to always be honest and to persevere." He applied those same tenets in his own life, as he noted when he was interviewed by the York Dispatch in 1988: " be honest with yourself and with others; realize that you are here for a purpose, not just for recreation; and do things for other people rather than living just for yourself." After his retirement, he was a volunteer physician at the C.A.R.E.S. Medical Clinic at the Claude Pepper Senior Center in New Port Richey, FL for thirteen years. Dr. Reich was an avid golfer and fly fisherman. He was a member of the American Osteopathic Association; the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Association, where he served two terms as president of the York County Osteopathic Association; Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity; the Rambo Run Fly Fishing Club; the Country Club of York; and Seven Springs Golf and Country Club in New Port Richey, FL. Dr. Reich was a founding member of the Eastminster Presbyterian Church in York, PA. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday December 13, 2014 at 10:30am at Trinity Memorial Gardens in Trinity, FL, followed by private interment with military honors at Susquehanna Memorial Gardens in York, PA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Dr. Reich's name to the C.A.R.E.S. Medical Clinic at the Claude Pepper Senior Center in New Port Richey, FL; the American Cancer Society; or to the general fund of Eastminster Presbyterian Church in York, PA.