Dr. Jerry X Tamisiea

Dr. Jerry X Tamisiea (88) of Spirit Lake, Iowa, passed away on Wednesday, January 7, 2015, at the Dickinson County Memorial Hospital in Spirit Lake. Born on June 18, 1926, in Craig, Nebraska, Jerry leaves behind his wife of 62 years, Alpha Mae (Fear) Tamisiea, and their three children: Leslie (Tamisiea) Krecklow of Omaha, Nebraska; Bruce Tamisiea of Spirit Lake, Iowa; and Elise (Tamisiea) Bishop of Reeds Spring, Missouri. Other survivors include seven grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren, and Jerry's niece, Kathy Hanson of Carroll, Iowa. Jerry joined the United States Navy in 1944 and went on inactive status in 1945. He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Medicine in 1950. In 1952, the Navy ordered him back to active duty. Within eight hours of receiving his orders on October 11, 1952, he married Alpha Mae Fear at the Methodist Hospital chapel in Omaha and immediately left for duty at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital. Afterwards, he served at the China Lake Naval Station in California and aboard the USS General A.E. Anderson in the Pacific. In November 1954, he returned to Omaha to complete his residency. Three years later, he passed his board examination in pathology and became a partner at Methodist, Children's, and University hospitals in Omaha. An avid private pilot, Jerry flew for business and pleasure. In May 1971, he moved with his family to West Lake Okoboji in Iowa and opened a clinical pathology laboratory in Milford, bringing daily pathology services to the Iowa Great Lakes area. In 1980, he moved his lab to the Medical Arts Building in Spencer, Iowa. Alpha worked by his side in the lab as his histology technician and bookkeeper for twenty years until the two retired on January 1, 1991. During his retirement, he worked as a locum tenens physician in Kentucky and indulged his love of traveling, history, and long car trips. In addition to three trips to Alaska, he and Alpha toured Canada, New England, and the Western United States. They also sailed to the Bahamas. Jerry is preceded in death by his parents (Bernard Edward and Mary Pearl [Stewart] Tamisiea), his brothers (Rex and Jack), and his sister Phyllis (Tamisiea) Hanson. No services are planned. Memorial donations may be made to Major Don's Army, a charity for children with cancer. Please mail contributions to Major Don's Army, Inc., 2228 Stoneridge Center Road, Reeds Spring, MO 65737.

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