Dr. John Austin Field

1935 - 2020

Dr. John Austin Field
May 6, 1935- October 7, 2020
Santa Cruz, CA
Dr. John Austin Field died in his home on Wednesday, October 7 with loving family by his side. John was born May 6, 1935 to John (Jack) and Sally Field in San Francisco. His father was a Physiology Professor at Stanford University, where he met John's mother, a graduate student in Chemistry, and was the eldest of three sons. John had an early love of all things mechanical, especially trains and radios, and this early penchant of collecting discarded radios, phonographs and similar in order to study, take apart, sort out and restore became a life-long endeavor. His academically oriented family encouraged his interests in engineering and science, and he enrolled and excelled in Engineering School at UCLA in 1952. During his summers he enjoyed working in the Department of Radiology at UCLA, an intersection of medicine and engineering that led to him becoming a pre-med student in his final year. He completed medical school at UCLA, followed by internship and residency at LA County General Hospital where he entered Orthopedic Medicine.
He enrolled in the Army Medical Corps for two years via the Berry Plan, and was deployed to the 121st Evacuation Hospital in Korea, between Seoul and Inchon, in 1966. He met and married Wilma Buursma, RN, also stationed at the 121st, in 1966, and had their first child, John C in 1967. John and Wilma settled in Santa Cruz, California in 1968, and John began working at the Santa Cruz Medical Clinic on Mission Street. Daughter Cara Lisa and son David Buursma were born in Santa Cruz. In addition to family activities, John was a highly engaged antique collector, inventor, and machinist who both admired and was loved and admired by honorable, hard-working people.
John joined the Orthopedics Department at Kaiser Permanente in 1980, and although he was divorced in the early 1990s, he remarried in 1993 to Dianne Farison. John and Dianne met through the Los Angeles Microscope Society, where he was well known for his extensive knowledge of historical Leitz microscopes. John retired in 1999 and he and Dianne spent the next 21 years exploring and expanding their shared admiration of marvelous engineering feats, exceptional accomplishments, history, and natural wonders. Even as physical and mental hardships of age set in over recent years, John would regain a sparkle in his eye and share knowledge and memories of classic steam trains and cars, pipe organs and player pianos, the wonders of microscopy, or the occasional friendly cat. He is survived by his wife Dianne, his three children (John C. Field, Cara Field and David Field), two grandchildren (Severin and Sophia Field), his ex-wife Wilma Field, daughters in-law Anna Zagorska and Laurie Temple Field, brother Charles Field, cousins Peter and Katherine Nelson, niece Amanda Field, and nephews Daniel, Robert and John D. Field. No services are planned at this time; donations may be sent to Hospice of Santa Cruz.


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