Dr. Richard Alan Guthrie

Guthrie, Dr. Richard Alan 1935 - 2020 Dr. Richard Alan Guthrie, a medical educator, researcher and endocrinologist, but first and foremost, a pediatrician who took the calls of patients with diabetes at home no matter the hour, died early Monday at Ascension Via Christ St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Kansas. He was 84. In 1973, Dr. Guthrie became the first chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the then newly established University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. After stepping down from the chairmanship in 1982, he continued to teach medical students until his retirement in 2014. Dr. Guthrie was named professor emeritus in 2011. "He was considered for many years the expert on diabetes in Wichita." said Dr. Garold Minns, dean of the medical school. He credited Dr. Guthrie with playing an instrumental role in getting the school up and running in the mid 1970s. Dr. Guthrie's dedication to the care of patients with diabetes, adults as well as children, and to research in his field, was an unflagging commitment. In 2003, he was the recipient of the American Diabetics Association's Outstanding Physician Clinician Award. "In addition to being a brilliant clinician in diabetes care, I remember him for his warmth and compassion," said Dr. Brian Pate, current chairman of pediatrics at the medical school. "I'll always be inspired by his warmth, excitement, passion, and compassion," he said. Throughout his career, Dr. Guthrie strived to keep abreast of the growing body of research in his field. An accomplished multi-tasker, he was capable of absorbing the details of a complex article in the Journal of Endocrinology while tracking the action in a National Football League game. In 1980, he administered the first injection of biosynthetic human insulin, made from recombinant DNA, into the arm of a 37 year-old Wichita homemaker as part of a five-patient test study. But while he treated adult patients with diabetes, treating children was his first love. "He took care of the older population as a job. But the pediatric population he did for fun, because he loved treating kids, being around them, helping them," said Tamara Guthrie-Patterson, Dr. Guthrie's youngest daughter and a registered nurse at St. Francis' pediatric and burn unit. Further, Tammy remembers her father saying that his adult patients were his pediatric patients grown up. Dr. Guthrie traveled worldwide to attend medical research conferences in his field. Doctors he met would call him for consultation. Some sent him their patients. He also sponsored physicians from around the world at U.S. medical schools and hospitals, especially Dr. Jian Xing and his family. With his wife Diana Guthrie, a retired professor of pediatrics at the medical school and a diabetes nurse specialist teaching behavioral therapy and research, he frequently authored or co-authored numerous articles, monographs, book chapters, and several books on the treatment of children with diabetes. Throughout the years, he worked on many local and national boards and committees. He continued to evaluate research proposals for the Institutional Review Board until his untimely death. He went on to treat thousands of patients at his own clinic, the Mid America Diabetes Association in Wichita, until his retirement in 2014. Up until his death, he continued as a collaborating physician at the clinic's non-profit successor, Great Plains Diabetes Research, Inc., working closely with Belinda Child for years. He always said his wife and his staff were what supported him in bringing quality care to patients no matter what the income. He enjoyed a fulfilling family life in Wichita, where most of his children and grandchildren grew to adulthood. "On top of all his great medical accomplishments, his greatest accomplishment was being a loving husband, brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather," Diana Guthrie said. As a boy, Dr. Guthrie's early years were spent on the family farm near Pleasant Hill, Illinois, the son of two teachers. Riding his pony King, he herded the farm's cows to and from pasture each day. By age 7, he was driving the farm's tractor. His sister, Merlene Miller, states "He has always been a teacher, even as a child he would teach me all about what was going on with WWII and many other things." When his father later became a minister, the family moved to Independence, Missouri and several other locations wherever The Church asked them to go. Following in his father's footsteps, Dr. Guthrie later also entered the ministry. When he passed on, he was an ordained evangelist for the Community of Christ Church in Wichita. As a boy in Independence, young Richard, played trumpet in his high school's marching band and spent his leisure hours reading history books and collecting stamps and coins. He was always passionate about team sports, but felt he was too short to participate. As an adult, however, he became an avid, lifelong skier. Meanwhile, it was in high school and then college that he learned he had leadership abilities and a strong retentive memory for minute detail. After graduating from the University of Missouri medical school in Columbia, where he became a reserve naval officer, Dr. Guthrie packed up his growing family, wife and infant Laura, to serve his internship at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps. base in southern California. He then became a medical officer at the U.S. Naval Sta>on at Cavite City, Luzon in the Philippines. Afer his discharge as a lieutenant, he returned to the University of Missouri Medical School as a faculty member in training and a researcher specializing in pediatric endocrinology. During his years in practice, Dr. Guthrie developed an interest in the U.S. space program, and attended the Space Camp at Huntsville, Alabama. He was also a longtime "Star Trek" fan, daughter Joyce, remembers he was fond of quoting Dr. McCoy character's line, "I'm just a simple country doctor." Dr. Guthrie is survived by his wife of 63 years, Diana Guthrie, of Mt. Hope, Ks.; three daughters, Laura Broyles, Wichita, Joyce Guthrie, Kingdom City, Mo., Tamara Guthrie-Patterson, Mt. Hope, Ks.; then sister, Merlene Miller, Innsbrook, Mo.; six grandchildren, Dr. Shauna Guthrie, Henderson, N.C., Kyle Batson, Wichita, Chet Batson, New York City, Cassy Thornton, Wichita, Cleona Guthrie-Craig, Wichita, Rebekah Broyles, Wichita; four nephews; and several step grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and of course his furry four legged grandkids. Memorial services were held Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Starlite Drive-In Theater, 3900 S. Hydraulic Rd., Wichita. Donations in Dr. Guthrie's name should be sent to: Great Plains Diabetes Research, 834 N. Socora St., Suite 4, Wichita, Ks., 67212; American Diabetes Association's Camp Discovery, Kansas c/o American Diabetes Association, 2451 Crystal Drive, Ste. 900, Arlington, Va., 22202; The Guthrie Legacy Award at the University of Kansas Medical School, Wichita, c/o Brad Rukes, development dir, KU endowment Association, KU School of Medicine-Wichita, 1010 N. Kansas St., Wichita, Ks., 67214-3199; "B.E.A.R.S. 4 Kids Program." Community of Christ, 3500 S. Webb Rd., Wichita, Ks. 67210.