Robert Graham Paterson

Dr. Robert Graham Paterson
1916 ~ 2013
Dr. Robert G. Paterson died peacefully at home May 18, 2013. Dad was born March 15, 1916 in Craftsbury, Vermont. Home was a dairy farm in the Green Mountains of Northeast Kingdom, gorgeous country with granite mountains and endless forests. Dad had seven brothers and sisters. He lived through World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. He was a 20th century man, plus! Dad went to grammar school in a horse and buggy and spent his last years traveling by jet.
Dad attended the University of Vermont as an undergraduate and the University of Vermont Medical School where he earned his medical degree. He interned at Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York where he met Dorothea (Dot) Boesch, a student nurse. They were married in 1943 when he completed his internship. It was World War II and Dad enlisted in the army as a Captain in the medical corps. After three months of married life, Dad shipped out to Europe for two years where he patched up the wounded on the battlefields of Belgium.
After the war and an Ear Nose and Throat residency at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, Dad and Mother moved to Boise. He could have stayed in New York and practiced on Long Island, but Dad had never been west and he heeded adventure's siren song.
Dad practiced medicine in Boise for 33 years. After retirement, he and Mother traveled to Morocco, Europe, Brazil, Singapore and all over the United States. When Mother became ill Dad was her caregiver. They were married 61 years.
Dad was an avid golfer and he and Mother loved playing different courses throughout the west. After Mother passed away, Dad continued to golf with friends and family, playing good, consistent golf with an excellent short game.
Dad also volunteered at Boise State University teaching English as a Second Language to foreign students. Dad loved poetry and favorites were Samuel Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" and Alfred Noyes's "The Highwayman," which he could recite in their entirety until the end. Dad also knew every state and foreign capital and all the state mottos and he was willing to test others on their knowledge of such things as well. Dad had insatiable intellectual curiosity. He taught himself Spanish during his last year.
Dad is survived by his children, Martha (Michael) McMurray, Boise; Graham (Sparkle) Paterson, Boise; and Anne (Alan) Shaw, Columbus, Georgia. Grandchildren Jaime, Melissa, Rachel Welker; Alexander, Elizabeth, Andrew, Emily and John Paterson; Brian and Leah Shaw; and great-grandchildren Olivia Vaughan-Welker, Stella Seng, and Cash Paterson.
A special thanks to Legacy Hospice and Comfort Keepers for helping him during the last month of his life. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to the Idaho Humane Society.
Private family burial will be at Pioneer Cemetery, Boise. A public reception in memory of Dad will be from 3-6 pm on Thursday, May 23, 2013, at the Arid Club, 1137 W. River Street, Boise. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Robert's memorial webpage at www.summersfuneral.com.