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Philip Twiss Siegert M.D.

Philip Siegert Obituary

Philip Twiss Siegert, MD

December 13, 1939-July 11, 2022

Philip Twiss Siegert MD passed away unexpectedly earlier this week after an afternoon of shooting sporting clays with friends. Born in St Louis, Missouri to Rudolph B Siegert MD and Margaret Twiss Siegert, Philip grew up with his three brothers in Pana, a small farming community in central Illinois, helping on the family farm, walking fence rows, hunting, and fishing. His childhood exposure to the outdoors fueled his love of nature, geography, photography, and recreational pursuits throughout life. He graduated with his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois, Champaign in 1962, earned a Varsity Letter award in Swimming, and was winner of the George Huff Academic Excellence award. He went on to earn a Doctor of Medicine in 1966 and Master of Science in Surgery in 1969 from The University of Illinois, Chicago. He completed a General Surgical residency in Chicago at Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital thereafter, and served as a Major in the Army Medical Corp, as Deputy Commander of the military hospital at Fort Stewart, Georgia. In 1973, he moved his family to Rock Island, IL and established his private practice as a General Surgeon, with Paul Moen MD, diligently serving patients in the Quad Cities until his retirement in 2004.

Philip met his college sweetheart Pamela Froom Siegert while both were attending the University of Illinois, Champaign, and they've been married for 62 years. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr & Mrs Rudolph B Siegert, his brother Rudy Siegert, and grandson Curtis Swan. He is survived by his wife Pamela, his five children, Leslie DeLaRosa (Joseph) of Milan IL, Lori Swan MD (David) of Lafayette IN, Elizabeth Steen (Evans) of Franklin TN, Philip Siegert (Susan Tady) of Boulder CO, and Abby Laatz (Ted) of Tarpon Springs FL, and 16 grandchildren; Robert, Philip (DeLaRosa), Pamela, Maxwell (Swan), Chelsea, Caleb, Margaret, Brooke, and Joshua (Steen), Lily, Luke, and Gibson (Siegert), Michael, Charlie, Thomas, and Elizabeth (Laatz), brothers Robert Siegert MD, Michael Siegert, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Dr Siegert was a leading contributor to the growth and quality of surgical care in the Quad Cities, and broader Illinois and Iowa. His medical career was steeped in the pursuit of surgical excellence and innovation in general surgical, trauma, oncological and bariatric treatments and procedures. His professional tenures include medical leadership positions at Moline Public Hospital, Franciscan Hospital, Hammond Henry Hospital, Illini Hospital, United Medical Center, Lutheran Hospital, Des Moines Osteopathic Medical Center and he was Trauma Director and Board Member for Trinity Medical Center Systems from 1995-2006. He held numerous local, state and national professional memberships and affiliations. Notably he was a member of the Rock Island County Medical Society since 1973, serving as President and on its Board of Censors 1988-1992. He also was a clinically published member of the Association of Bariatric Surgeons, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and served as President of the Illinois Chapter of FACS from 1994-1995, and was appointed Governor of American College of Surgeons, representing Illinois from 1996-2002. Throughout his career, he sought to practice and teach surgery as an art, and he was known for his professionalism and bedside manner when caring for patients. In 2001 he was designated by the American College of Surgeons as a Member of the Joint Commission of the National Ambulatory Committee, to author national guidelines for Ambulatory Care. The Illinois Chapter of American College of Surgeons created the Dr. Philip T Siegert Fellows Service Award, an honor awarded annually to a surgeon recognized for distinguished service within the medical community.

Phil loved his family tremendously. He encouraged all of his children and grandchildren to "Aim High". Spending time with them was priceless to him, regardless of the occasion. He planned numerous family trips over the years that are some of their fondest memories, often with a boat or trailer in tow. Notable adventures include trips to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Lake Powell, Utah, Table Rock Lake, Missouri, and Ontario, Canada.

Phil had many deep friendships with colleagues from his many different interests, and contributed his time and energy charitably within the community. He was an avid outdoorsman, and made many trips with friends that spanned field, stream, and saltwater, including navigating swamps in Georgia, Mississippi River sloughs, the mangroves in Florida, among other far flung excursions to Edinburgh, Alaska, and the Caribbean. He was a fervent Illini and Chicago Bears fan and enjoyed supporting both teams throughout his life. He and Pam maintained lifelong family friendships with "Steak Club", a close knit group of University of Illinois graduates from the 1960's that landed in the Quad Cities. Sporting Clays was a passion, and he loved shooting regularly with some of the best local shooters. He supported the construction of Bi-State Sportsman's Association in Colona, IL, where he shot competitively for several decades. He helped arrange numerous charitable funding drives and events for the local Boy Scouts of America chapter. In retirement Phil gathered weekly for lunch with the "Romeo Club", a group of retired Quad City friends.

Phil lived a full and blessed life both personally and professionally. He was a true family man, loved as a husband, son, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. Now in the arms of Jesus, his presence in the world will be greatly missed.

Dr. Siegert's visitation will be held at The Outing Club, 2109 Brady Street Davenport, Iowa from 1pm to 5pm on Wednesday July 20th. The memorial service will be at The Outing Club on Thursday, July 21st at 10 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Bi-State Sportsman Association, 571 Cleveland Road Colona, IL 61241 or, to First United Presbyterian Church of Moline, 801 16th Street Moline, IL 61265. For those unable to attend the service will be live-streamed at https://vimeo.com/730345967.

Online condolences, memories and expressions of sympathy may be left for the family at wheelanpressly.com.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Rock Island Dispatch Argus on Jul. 17, 2022.

Memories and Condolences
for Philip Siegert

15 Entries

Don Normoyle

July 23, 2022

Transcript from the words I spoke at the luncheon and celebration of life for Phil:

I had the genuine privilege to know Phil Siegert as an acquaintance, a colleague, a mentor and a friend.

I was sincerely honored when Pam asked me to say a few words after the luncheon celebrating Phil´s Life.

My first thought was this should be easy how about " He was a good Man". That´s about as few words as I can use, but my second thought was : "Pam knows I have never been accused of being a man of a "few words" ( after all, I am half Irish) and a few words would not do justice to a person who touched the lives of so many people especially me?

If you are sitting in this room today, chances are you know exactly the kind of person that was Phil Siegert. He was a family man, a physician and surgeon, a sportsman and outdoorsman, a generous and patient man, a fiercely loyal friend with strong faith and religious convictions.

Prior to 1997, I had only a passing acquaintance with "Dr Siegert" and his family. My parents were friends with the Siegerts but our paths rarely crossed.

From 1997 to 2004, Phil and I worked together at the Unity Point Hospitals as colleagues where I had the pleasure of observing him in the prime of his surgical career. He was a talented and busy surgeon. I was a relatively young (30ish) Anesthesiologist beginning my career. My father would fall ill and pass away in 1998 at the age of 56. This would mark another transition in my relationship with Phil.

As time has passed, I realized the wisdom of the ways and manner in which Phil interacted with all members of the hospital staff and the public at large.

Phil was generous and patient. He was generous with his time. He generously-shared the medical expertise and experience that he spent his life accumulating. He trained other surgeons, nurses and operating room techs always treating them with kindness and respect. When you have a lifetime of knowledge, It is hard to not sound like a "know it all" but somehow, Phil managed to be sincere and humble. He was generous with his resources. He loved to pass out $2 bills. My children carry them in their wallets to this day. He had spare keys made to his ATV and said " use it whenever you want". He always had a cooler with pop, Gatorade and water to share. He would sell his reloading equipment to his younger shooting pals and then buy all new gear (and he did this more than once). He frequently offered his highly engraved, prized shotgun for friends and acquaintances to try out. He insisted on paying for the targets AND provided the shells TOO. On our last outing together, after breaking 4 pairs of targets with my own shotgun, He demanded I break another pair with his shotgun, but wanted me to do it in a more difficult way. He could challenge you to stretch yourself without breaking you down and he would still seem modest even when he was competing with you.

Phil lead by example. He introduced me to philanthropy by getting me involved with his efforts planning and raising money for the local Boy Scouts of America through the scouting clays classic board. He introduced me to the sport of "sporting clays". This would become a passion we would both share and the mechanism through which we would spend hundreds of hours together bonding over the next decade. He encouraged me to join the Board at the shooting club and continue to bring about positive changes.

I learned much by observing and listening, and listening, and listening.

Phil loved to tell stories from his life experiences. Some were from his youth, some from his medical training and subsequent medical practice, some from his travels and adventures. I would recount one here but, If you spent any time around Phil, you already heard this story 3 or 4 times. At first, these stories seemed somewhat boastful. Phil was fortunate to have had many story worthy adventures. Great dinners with friends, fishing and hunting trips, family vacations and more. I came to realize that there was not pride or pretension in the retelling of the stories. It felt like like Phil despised the silent voids that are a part of normal conversation. When we rode together in his car, he never played the radio. To let a moment of silence pass, an opportunity would be missed. An opportunity to influence, inspire, educate, motivate and invigorate his friends and family. This never felt forceful. It was subtle and almost consciously undetectable. These stories were his examples of what it looks like to live your best life as your best self. They were a gentle challenge for us to be our best selves living our best life.

In 2004, Phil retired from medical practice and the next phase of our relationship would evolve. Phil now had much more time to share. As my children grew to adulthood, I too would have much more free time and we grew closer as friends. Phil began to ask more questions about my adventures and retelling fewer of his own stories.

There is a story in Greek mythology about how man acquired fire from the gods. Fire is symbolic of a "divine-like" light that illuminates all things both in the physical world and the world of thought. The phrase "passing the torch" comes from this story and is the inspiration for torch ceremonies in our culture today. I could not identify the moment when it felt like I was now the older physician passing on my knowledge, or the experienced clay shooter welcoming someone new to the sport. I can´t remember the day I finally broke more targets than Phil. Yet, they all came slowly to pass. It seems as if quietly, gradually, imperceptibly he was sliding that torch into our hands. It was as if one moment, he was carrying the torch leading the way, and in the next moment the torch is in our hands and he is happily observing from behind.

I am sorry if I have made Phil sound too "serious". He had a great sense of humor and loved sharing an email with an amusing tale. He also liked to tell a joke and occasionally play a practical joke.

Come to think of it, I do have a personal story you probably have not heard. I am sure you are all aware that Phil liked to be punctual. In fact he like to be painfully early to any appointment or meeting. We had arranged to shoot together at Phil´s club in Florida. He was to pick me up at my Folks´ (as he referred to them) place in Naples at 8 am. I knew he would be there at least 15 minutes early. I loaded up all my gear (shotgun, vest, shooting glasses, ammunition) and waited on the curb out front on Gulf Coast Boulevard 25 minutes early. I knew this would make him uncomfortable. I have probably never been that early for anything in my life. Phil rode up in his big SUV at 740am, 20 minutes early, rolled down the window and said "sorry I´m late".

I can´t help thinking, I am now 56 years old. I am the same age my father was when he passed away. Is this Phil´s way of making sure he gets to heaven before all the rest of us. To get there early. Painfully early. To smooth the way and save us a seat? To make sure we have bread ( with the "good butter") at the table when we arrive?

He really was a GOOD MAN.

Jerry and Grace

July 21, 2022

May the love of friends and family carry you through your grief.

Sarah Navarro

July 20, 2022

Thinking of your family at this time. My condolences and prayers

Linda Rose

July 19, 2022

My sincerely condolences to his wife, Pam, and to his children and their families. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him... his family, the community, his friends and professional associates.

Cynthia Hanken Coy

July 19, 2022

Enjoyed working with him over the years at Lutheran Hospital. One of the very good guys!

Alicia and Marcia

Planted Trees

Eric & Tracy Leuth

July 18, 2022

Pam,
So sorry for your loss.

Sharon and Bob Gunnigle

July 18, 2022

Sending prayers for his family and friends.

Barry Wilber

July 18, 2022

From the very beginning when I was a "new kid in town" in Pana, Phil was such a good friend to me Grades 7-12 and beyond. After a gap of 45 years or so, over these past 12 years Phil and I had so many, many enjoyable back-and-forth email threads talking hunting and shooting and Pana and Illini sports and exchanging our views and opinions on books we were reading and current events and politics and just life its ownself. I still have all of it in my Phil File. This morning I've been re-reading back through the years. It was so much fun. My sincere condolences to Pam and all the immediate and extended families.

Monica Reyes

July 18, 2022

Dr Siegert was a wonderfully kind man with a big friendly personality. Every time he came in the bank I worked at he greeted us with a smile. I am so sorry for your loss. Prayers for him and his family & friends.

Megan Jones Warner

July 17, 2022

Love, hugs, and prayers from our family to yours. "The Pizza Girl"

Stephanie McElwee Alpaugh

July 17, 2022

I grew up caddy-corner from Phil on Third ST in Pana, and had a little girl crush on him. He was always friendly and thoughtful in his reactions to the silly kid across the street. I will forever remember him as a wonderful and accomplished role model for most Pana youth.
RIP Phil-my deepest condolences to the entire Seigert family

Barbara Kohley

July 17, 2022

So sorry for your loss. I have good memories of Dr. Siegert working at Lutheran Hospital OR. He always treated the OR staff with respect. He spoke of our hospital, our operating room. He was inclusive which made us feel like a team. Good guy, good surgeon. Sounds like he lived his life right up to the end. Hope we can all do that! Peace.

Rhoda Dudra

July 17, 2022

Phil was a friend from our small town. I enjoyed exchanging puns with him on line these past few years and sharing do you remember " stories! God bless his family and friends.

Roger & Linda Maulding

July 17, 2022

Just wanted to tell you how saddened we were to hear of the passing of Phil. Please extend our sympathy to your family and know that we are thinking of you all at this sorrowful time !!

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