Joseph LASH Jr.

LASH, Jr., Joseph, MD, FACAAI
On July 3, 2013 Dr. Joseph 'Joe' Lash, MD passed into the loving arms of our Lord, with loved ones at his side. Born December 31, 1925 to Joseph Lash, Sr. and Margaret Alice Lash, he grew up in the Southside of Chicago, Ill. Graduating from Parker High School, he went on to college at the University of Chicago for a Ph.D before getting his M.D. at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University, Chicago. After interning at Cook County Hospital, where he met and later married nurse Dorla Haiberg in the spring of 1954. Over the next few years, Jane (Santana), Joseph A. (Jobby) and Peter were born. He practiced general medicine before going on to a pediatric residency in order to qualify to take the boards of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology.
He spent 30 years practicing in a small allergy group in Sacramento and also consulted with local doctors in Choteau, MT. at a time when there were only two board certified allergists in the state. During this time he also regrettably lost his wife after 29 years of marriage. In turn, he lost himself in the adventure of bicycle touring with a bicycle society founded by a surgeon serving in Europe during WWII. He bicycled almost yearly with friends, but especially dear companion, Cherill Vencil, from the Scottish Isles down to the Balkans.
After his first attack of lymphoma in 1989, he quit private practice and moved to New England where he served as a journeyman allergist, staffing clinics for a large allergy group in the environs about Boston. This was also the time he found spiritual support in a cancer support group at Trinity in Boston.
Returning to Sacramento in 2001, he began to volunteer through the S.P.I.R.I.T. program treating patients at the Del Paso Clinic until 2004. He was asked to head the allergy clinic at the Woodland Clinic for two years. Finally, he treated COPD, the homeless and uninsured, at the Primary Care Clinic until this year. Then again through the auspices of S.P.I.R.I.T. program of the S.S.V.M.S.
Then in 2007, he married Evelyn, the eldest sibling of the large Porter family of Sacramento.
Joe, was preceded in death, by his parents, brothers James (Jay) Lash, John Lash, tragically his son, Joseph (Jobby) and first wife, Dorla. He is survived by wife, Evelyn Porter-Lash, son, Peter, daughter, Jane, son-in-law, Larry Santana, grandson, David Santana, and granddaughter, Jenna Santana.
There will be a memorial service at the Fremont Presbyterian Church on Carlson Drive, Sacramento, Saturday, July 13 at 12:00 noon with a reception immediately following.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or a charity of choice.