Dennis Eugene McCafferty M.D.

1927 - 2014

Dennis Eugene McCafferty M.D.

1927-2014

Dennis was born in his Grandmother's front bedroom in McCook, Nebraska on January 21, 1927 to parents Merritt Dwight McCafferty and Leona Booth McCafferty. His father worked in retail and his mother was an artist. He loved his younger brother, Jerry. He did well in school, worked from age 10, was his high school class president, played football and became an Eagle Scout. His family moved to Corvallis, Oregon and he joined the Navy near the end of WWII at age 17 with his parent's permission. In Corps School he came down with scarlet fever and almost died. He was a medic in the Long Beach, California Hospital, leaving the Navy as a Pharmacist Mate Third Class.

Dennis studied Pre-Med at Oregon State University, then went to University of Oregon Medical School in Portland, interning at the Multnomah County Hospital. He met his wife, Estelle Frances Greer, on a blind double date, and was impressed with her beauty and the fact she drove a convertible and liked jazz. They were married on December 20, 1953. They moved to Denver, Colorado where Dennis had his residency at the VA Hospital and their daughter, Page Estelle, was born there in 1956. He transferred to Oregon City Hospital, and daughter, Leslie Ann, was born there in 1958. The family moved to Eugene in 1959 and he started his Internal Medicine practice in Springfield, retiring in 1991. They moved to their beloved home on the McKenzie River in 1974 and loved their rustic cabin in Camp Sherman on the Metolius River.

Dennis was an old-school physician, charging as little as possible for his office calls and making twice a day rounds. He served many years on the board at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital and volunteered his medical services where needed.

Although known as an intellectual, stoic, and voracious reader, Dennis was a great joke teller and fun to be with. He was a Secular Humanist and had liberal Democratic views. He was a jazz aficionado, an OSU Beaver fan and loved cocktail hour and good food. He was a woodworker and gardener, and adored yellow labs. He was a wonderful (grand) father, husband and friend. When Dennis found he was no longer able to learn and remember, he took control of his own destiny with a rational suicide to halt the advance of dementia on March 25, 2014 in the garden that he loved so. He was 87. He will rest at River View in Portland with his wife Estelle, who died in 2012.

Dennis is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law: Page and Bill Clothier, and Leslie and Michael Kearsey; grandchildren: Kelty and Wedge Clothier, and Rose and Weston Kearsey; and many friends including medical fellows, his friends at the Oakway Fitness Center, and the Wednesday Night Group.

We will celebrate Dennis' life with an Irish wake on Saturday, April 5th at Noon at 102 Deadmond Ferry Road in Springfield - all are welcome. Donations in Dennis' name can be made to support learning through the OSU Foundation: Science Department or Library Fund (osufoundation.org).