Donald Arthur Fuesler

1924 - 2020

Donald A. Fuesler, M.D.

May 25, 1924 - July 31, 2020

Dr. Donald Arthur Fuesler of Longview died July 31 at Community Home Health and Hospice at age 96, following a stroke several days earlier.

He was born and raised in the city of Norfolk in the rolling farmland of northeastern Nebraska and was the eldest of four children. His paternal grandfather had immigrated from Germany, and his parents were Arthur and Ruth (Zwicky) Fuesler.

Dr. Fuesler leaves a legacy of courageous service as an infantryman during World War II and more than 40 years as a popular Longview family physician. Together, he and his wife of over 70 years, Margaret Fuesler, enriched the community through personal service and philanthropy.

Almost immediately following his passing, messages honoring him and offering condolences began to appear online. A simple Internet search should locate nearly all, including sites that recount his years as a combat soldier in Gen. George Patton's 3rd Army, as well as the awards that Dr. Fuesler and his unit - the 95th Infantry Division - received in later years.

In 2016, the French government awarded him the French Legion of Honor - the nation's highest award for military service. (He displays the medal in the photo above.) Previously, he had been awarded more than 20 military medals - four of which were French - including the Bronze Star Medal for bravery, the French Medal of Victory, the Medal of Metz, and the Croix de Guerre.

(A 73-minute interview of Dr. Fuesler about his war experiences can be found online through the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. Interviewer is Jerry Hickey who had it taped at Longview's KLTV studios for his Eagle Scout project in 2007.)

Blessed with a wry sense of humor, Dr. Fuesler wrote an autobiography, My War (Pacific Printing, Longview, Washington: 1995) which, unfortunately, is out of print.

While war is never funny, he managed to find humor in some of the absurdities of military life, as well as the occasional mischief that he and fellow soldiers would get into in order to make Army life and war more bearable. He begins one chapter with, "Privates are the mushrooms of the Army - constantly in the dark and always covered by manure."

This same type of humor occasionally would come out in his one-liners in the Letters to the Editor column of The Daily News. After reading about how aggrieved wife Lorena Bobbitt had cut off her husband's penis while he slept, Dr. Fuesler wrote: "Mrs. Bobbitt bobbed it."

But humor couldn't blot out the occasional nightmares about combat that dogged him to the end.

So much has been written in the press and online about his Army service that it's easy to overlook his personal side as a family man and physician (his patients loved him), not to mention as a philanthropist and community activist.

Donald and Margaret Fuesler kept the family active. During school vacations, they often would go the island of Oahu, Hawaii, where the children would build sand castles with their father.

The couple also owned several acres of farmland in the hills above Stella, 10 miles west of Longview, where Dr. Fuesler could relax and enjoy wandering around the woods and looking after the family's beef cattle, sheep, and horses.

Besides keeping saddle horses for recreation, he co-owned race horses with two local doctors. Their gelding Ninety Five Five was the biggest winner.

Following his retirement in 1992, Dr. Fuesler actively took part in CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), a non-profit organization whose volunteers provide support to children in the courts in cases of abuse or neglect.

"He loved little kids," daughter Margretchen Fuesler says. "If they were in foster care, he would be in charge of overseeing their care" after establishing a one-on-one relationship with the child. "If their biological parents wanted them back, Dad would mediate, go to court, and then report whether he thought the children should be returned or not."

Over the years, Donald and Margaret Fuesler have generously contributed to Cowlitz County organizations dedicated to arts and culture, education, basic needs, and health.

Five years ago, they decided to better channel their philanthropy by forming the Donald and Margaret Fuesler Foundation through the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington where donations in honor of Dr. Fuesler can be made. Address is 610 Esther St., Suite 201, Vancouver, WA 98660.

Besides daughter Margretchen Fuesler of Longview, survivors include wife Margaret at home; daughter Juliana Fuesler of Maple Valley, WA; son Thomas Fuesler (Susan) of Garnet Valley, PA; and a sister, Marjorie Lorenz of Cypress, CA.A memorial service will be announced at a later date.