George Thomas "Doc" Buechle

George Thomas [Doc] Buechle

Pinconning, Michigan

George Thomas [Doc} Buechle was born January 6, 1933, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and died on August 18, 2025, at Sheffield Place, Bangor Township, Michigan. He was the only child of Otto August Buechle and Marion [Carley] Buechle, and was raised in Mason City, Iowa. On August 25, 1957, he married Dorothy [Ocasek] Buechle in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. She survives him. Tom and Dorothy had three children: Mark [Tammy] Buechle of Marshall, Michigan; Tim Buechle of Talkeetna, Alaska; and Elizabeth [Joseph] Leal of Buckeye, Arizona. In addition to their children, Tom is survived by three grandchildren: Otto Buechle of Ypsilanti, Michigan; Karlie [Kimo] Taylor of Buckeye, Arizona; Nikki [Jordan] Riepe of Flagstaff, Arizona; and one great grandson, Eric Taylor of Buckeye.

Both Tom and Dorothy were enrolled at the University of Iowa medical school, he in the MD program and Dorothy in the nursing program. It was in Iowa City that they met. After graduating, Tom did his internship at St. Mary's Hospital in Saginaw. While in college Tom joined the naval reserves, and after his internship in Saginaw he served two years in the U.S. Navy while stationed in Jacksonville, Florida. After his discharge in 1961, Tom began his solo general practice career in St. Charles, Michigan. After five years in St. Charles, Tom and Dorothy moved to Pinconning in 1966 where Tom joined the practice of Dr. William Schmeltzer. Dorothy recently stated that moving to Pinconning was one of the best decisions of their life.

After several years in private practice in Pinconning, in response to the lack of 24-hour emergency medical care available in the region, Tom and three other doctors formed a private corporation, Bay Emergency Services PC, and opened the first Emergency Department in Bay City at Mercy Hospital. When Mercy Hospital merged with Bay City General Hospital to form Bay Medical Center, the Emergency Department moved to the new facility on Columbus Avenue. Tom worked with the architects to help design the new hospital's ER department.

In 1986, Doc retired from active medical practice at the tender age of 53 to begin the next stage of his life, one of service to the community. Over the next several years he served on the Boards of Directors of several organizations, including the Bay Medical Hospital Board, the Pinconning School Board, and the Experimental Aircraft Association, to name a few. He was instrumental in the formation of a non-profit corporation to purchase and operate Gross Airport in Pinconning. He was also a member of the Pinconning Township DDA and loved to discuss the sewage retention ponds-what he always referred to as "the poop ponds"-that were built behind the airport. Both he and Dorothy were instrumental in setting up the Community Clothing Center in a renovated building in Downtown Pinconning. In addition to his community service activities, Doc enjoyed playing golf, fishing and hunting with his boys, and playing poker with his poker club buddies. In 2007, Doc was one of the Charter Members of the newly formed Rotary Club of Pinconning & Standish-Dorothy soon joined him in the club-whose mission has been to promote community service projects in the region. He often said that his fellow Rotarians were the best people he ever had the pleasure of working and socializing with. Club members felt the same way about the Buechles.

Aviation played an important role in the lives of the Buechles, helping to shape not just the lives of Doc and Dorothy, but of their children as well. After moving to Pinconning, they finally had the time to pursue their interest in flying. In 1972, once Doc and Dorothy had their pilot's licenses, they were off. They flew their own airplane to points throughout North America, sometimes to attend medical certification conferences, sometimes just for pleasure. They made four trips in their plane to Alaska to visit their son Tim in Talkeetna where they learned to love and appreciate the vast grandeur of our Last Frontier.

Wishing to live more quietly once they retired, the Buechles purchased property on Bois Blanc Island in Lake Huron, near Cheboygan. They and their sons built a log home on the island which had its own small airport, making it convenient for the family to travel to and from their summer home in a fraction of the time it takes to drive there, without having to put the car on a ferry to cross the channel to the island. Spending summers on the island became an annual ritual. Most years, Doc and Dorothy would spend over 100 days at their island home before heading south for the winter, that is, to Pinconning. Over the years, they settled into a rhythm that combined leisure time spent in Northern Michigan with their active community service activities in Pinconning.

One of the pleasures that Doc often experienced when visiting local restaurants was having young and not-so-young people approach him and remind him that he was the doctor who delivered them, an event he usually said he remembered-and maybe he did. Lots of people in the area have stories to tell about time spent with Doc Buechle, and Dorothy too, and the family hopes people will continue to share their "Doc stories"-there are probably lots of them-as a way of keeping his memory alive.

As the saying goes, "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." As per Doc's wishes, cremation has taken place. No public memorial service is planned.