Charles Sedgwick

1932 - 2018

Charles Sedgwick
86
Aromas
Charles Jerome Sedgwick, 86, of Aromas, California passed away peacefully surrounded by his three sons and friends on May 26, 2018. Charles was born in rural Fremont, California on February 7, 1932 to Darrel Sedgwick and Grace (McAllister) Sedgwick. Charles was a pioneer in zoo animal and exotic animal medicine. After a brief stint working locum tenens (subbing) in small animal clinics in southern California, Charles applied for and secured a position as veterinarian at the Los Angeles Zoo in 1965, a position that was intended to last the duration of moving animals from the "old" zoo to the "new" zoo. However, Charles remained the veterinarian of the Los Angeles Zoo until 1969, at a time when zoological animal medicine, as a specialty within veterinary medicine, did not even exist. Charles worked briefly as a research veterinarian for NASA's Biosatellite II program, which involved monkeys in space, before settling in at the San Diego Zoo as director of veterinary services, where he served until 1978. Charles' career also included professorships in veterinary medicine. He served as campus veterinarian and course director and lecturer in laboratory animal medicine at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine; and he was the founding director of the Tufts Wildlife Center at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Charles was a loving mentor to many burgeoning young veterinarians. He returned to the Los Angeles Zoo near the end of his career, where he helped to design and establish new animal hospitals. In his retirement, he turned to writing and refining algorithms for allometric scaling for use in determining drug dosages for various species, an interest that had been sparked in his early years at the Los Angeles Zoo. Charles' influence in using allometric scaling for determining drug dosages of exotic animals was groundbreaking, and has been felt worldwide. Along for all of these rides was Charles' loving wife (predeceased) of 66 years, Shirley Diantha Sedgwick, who he met at Fremont High School in 1950, and who captured his heart with her "exotic" flair for wearing sandals to school and dancing Hula. Shirley, the daughter of a career navy officer, had spent time living in Hawaii over the years (she had witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor at age ten). It was Shirley who suggested to Charles that he should combine the results of a high school aptitude test—which concluded that he should be a farmer or a doctor—and become a veterinarian. Charles is survived by his son, David; son, Michael and his wife, Jackie Sedgwick; son, Paul and his wife, Diane Marchioni; grandchildren, Ben Sedgwick, Tara Valkavitch and her husband Gary Valkavitch, and Maggie Sedgwick, all of Pittsburg; grandchildren Marrok Sedgwick and Krista Sedgwick of California; grandchildren Charlotte Sedgwick, Virginia Sedgwick and Adam Sedgwick of Boston; two great-grandchildren, Braya and Adley Mae Valkovitch of Pittsburg; and many nieces and nephews and loving friends and colleagues across the country. We will all miss Charles' tough work ethic, his ceaseless drive to always be improving, and his dedication to family and loved ones. A celebration of life for Charles will be held on December 29, 2018 at the Aromas Grange, 400 Rose Ave, Aromas, California, beginning at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Charles' name to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine "Wildlife Program."


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