Mancel T. Mitchell

Mitchell, Mancel T., MD age 95, long-time resident of Edina and Minneapolis, passed away on Wednesday, February 21, 2007. Born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin; preceded in death by wife of 62 years, Harriet, parents, Dr. Roy E. and Emily Judson Mitchell, and sister, Marjorie Mitchell Barnes. He is survived and honored by his four sons, Mancel, Jr. (Randi), John (Donna), David (JoanE) and Stephen; loved and cherished by ten grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, and sister, Doris Mitchell Losby of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, nieces and nephews, and thousands of grateful patients. "A doctor of the old school." Mancel was valedictorian of his high school class in Eau Claire at age 16. He received his undergraduate and M.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. After an internship at Philadelphia General Hospital, he returned to Minneapolis and served as a resident physician in obstetrics and gynecology at Eitel Hospital in Minneapolis (where he met his future wife, nurse Harriet Waller) and at the University of Minnesota. For two years, he served as a consultant in the Children's Bureau of the United States Public Health Service in the States of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. During World War II, Mancel served as a U.S. Army Air Corps flight surgeon at various U.S. bases and in England, France and Holland, completing his military service with the rank of Lt. Colonel. Mancel was engaged in private practice of obstetrics and gynecology in Minneapolis from 1946 through 1977, serving principally on the medical staffs of St. Barnabas Hospital and its successor Metropolitan Medical Center, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Northwestern Hospital and Fairview Southdale Hospital. He also served as Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Minneapolis General Hospital [predecessor to Hennepin County Medical Center], as a clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Minnesota Medical School and as President of the Minneapolis War Memorial Blood Bank [predecessor to Memorial Blood Centers of Minnesota]. He volunteered as a physician in Ecuador, S.A. on the SS HOPE – the world's first peacetime hospital ship – Project HOPE's (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) mission to improve the quality of life of the world's most vulnerable, predominantly women and children. After retirement from the active practice of medicine, Mancel, as a consultant to the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation, surveyed hospitals nationwide. Until the age of 83, he served as medical director at a local blood bank. Mancel and his wife, Harriet, were also Stephen Ministers at Plymouth Congregational Church. Private interment at Lakewood Cemetery. Memorial service Sunday 2:00 PM, with visitation one hour prior at Plymouth Congregational Church, 19th & Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis. Memorials preferred in lieu of flowers to Plymouth Congregational Church or The University of Minnesota Medical Foundation. "Carry on, Dad!" Love, your family. Washburn-McReavy Edina Chapel 952-920-3996
This obituary was originally published in the Star Tribune.