Herbert A. King

Dr. Herbert A. King, a Master Clinician and a Doctors' Doctor, died on December 25, 2007, under Hospice care at the Westminster Towers in Orlando. He was 90. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, December 28, at the Reformation Chapel, First Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Magnolia and Church streets in downtown Orlando. Dr. King practiced Internal Medicine for 48 years in Daytona Beach, retiring in 1997. Soon after, he moved to Orlando where he met his current wife, Virginia. Both had been widowed for years. Herb, as most of his friends called him, was born on July 17, 1917, in Peabody, Mass. As a young man endowed with the physique of a linebacker, he used to work as a lumberjack. He attended college at the University of Richmond where he got his Bachelor's Degree in Science in 1939. Following the footsteps of his father, who was a general surgeon in Massachusetts, he went to Duke University where he completed his M.D. degree in 1942. He finished first in his class and belonged to Alpha Omega Alpha, a society of the top students in every medical school here. He later became certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine. After graduation, he stayed for three more years at Duke for his residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Allergy and Hematology. He spent two years of military service at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin, then returned to Duke for another two years where, among other things, he did research and teaching of medical students. He started his practice in Daytona Beach in 1949, joining another established internist. It did not take long for him to gain recognition for his medical skills, and his peers often dubbed him as a master clinician and as a doctors' doctor. His partner who joined him in 1972, Dr. R. G. Lacsamana, describes him as a sharp physician with a prodigious memory, an encyclopedic base of knowledge, and such thoroughness in his craft he would not miss seeing a tiny mole hiding under the little left toe. He had patients from near and afar, and they adored him because of his warmth, compassion, knowledge, and sense of humor. Amid a very busy schedule, he found time to make house calls on his elderly patients. It was not surprising that when he retired, a huge crew of his old patients who were seeing him for 30 to 40 years staged one of two retirement parties to say goodbye to their beloved doctor. In the medical community, he held prominent positions of responsibility, including being the chief of Halifax Hospital medical staff, president of the Volusia County Medical Society, president of the Volusia chapter of the American Cancer Society, and Chief of the EKG Department at Halifax Hospital. He and his widow, Virginia, have been active members of the University Club of Winter Park which they joined several years ago. Up to his last year in life, he continued to remain active by attending weekly events at the club such as discussions of politics, current events, science, attractions like ballet, opera, music and other cultural performances. Reading and wine were some of his other passions. Besides his widow, other survivors include a son, Dr. Arthur "Buzzy" King, who lives and practices dentistry in Southern Pines, N.C. Another son, Lawrence Ballou King, of Sanford, died last year. He has two stepchildren and several grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Hospice of the Comforter, 595 Montgomery Road, Altamonte Springs, FL 32839.