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Show Tribute SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30. 1994 10 Legendary Country Doctor, George R. Aiken, Dies at 98 By Jeanette Rusk City Cemetery. amazing facets even to Doc him- The doctor who took care of After 75 years of being a coun- - self was how he as a farm boy Kane County residents for more try doctor in southern Utah, from Ohio and a Presbyterian than half a century and built serving his community and ended up in one of the most first hospital, Dr. George state, and living a full life, Doc mote areas of the West, doctor-R- . Aiken, died at the age of 98 on had spent his last years in his ing and serving among the Nov. 21, in the Kanab small Kanab home entertaining mons,Navajos,andPaiutes. The re-the- Mor-Monda- ir y, published a book on his life and career in 1989, called The Doc Aiken Story: Memoirs of a Country Doctor. He was helped in this project by an artist and writer, Kathryn Vilips-Jacksowho met Doc while doing research on the Paiute Indians in the area. She stayed with Doc and took care of him while they put the book together. Doc was doubly blessed by his association with Kathryn because her n, took oer Docs care when she left. Jim continued to live with Doc and took meticulous care of him until his death. In his last years. Doc was almost blind and his legs would no son, Jim John.-to- n. longer support him, but he was utained by friends and memories. Seine of his favorite were his patients, who couldn't forget the doctor who took care of them w it h skill, w is-m. and U e. Doc didn't hove the tacilitie-- . quipinent, or support of modern medicine, but 'he tackled every kind of medical or human problem that came his wav. often traveling great disAiken had a enthusiasm for life that he never lost He was't about to let being confined to a wheel cha.r tances and many times without d' pei.-on-n- el Dr George R keep him from one of his favorite pastimes -- fishing. pay. hospital that bears his name, visitors with animated accounts Dr. Aiken - known by his many of doctoring and living on the friends as Doc - was buried on frontier. After all he had seen and done Saturday beside his wife. Nita, who died in 1977, in the Kanab in his long life, one of the most D GfcXU : were a doctor, regularly to the old doctor who money or not, Doc would explain. "You might hope that you he is a legend in southern Utah, would be paid, but your dedicaAlready in his 90s, Dr. Aiken tion to saving lives was uppermost in your mind. Somehow I can't help feeling it should still be that way." Dr. Aiken built the first hospital in Kanab in 1935, and the current hospital is named after him - George R. Aiken Kane County Hospital. In the early days before he built the hospi- madesomanycontributionsthat tal, Aiken provided the only medical care for a huge area in Ifep Ifep southern Utah and extending 200 miles south to Flagstaff, Ariz. His medical service to the state of Utah was recognized when he was named Honorary President of the Utah Medical Association in 1969. But Doc was revered in his state and community as much for his accomplishments and exploits. He took his turn in politics, serving three terms in the Utah State Legislature, three terms as Kanab City Mayor, and a term as City Councilman. He was dedicated to historic preservation and was instrumental in saving the Heritage House in Kanab which is now one of its biggest tourist attractions. Doc was a skilled and enthusiastic sportsman, and it was always his favorite diversion from a demandingmeaieai career. lie e was considered one of the of the portsmen region and prooabiy the best fly fisherman in southern Utah. Rebuilt non-medic- SaiDstv) o GtossQSss GuEStD QQfbg) o fijo !lQ3DfeUd bimiinVi (mnvnu'knaauk took you accoladeshadcontinuedtocome careIfyou of people whether they had al pre-rr.er- -- Navajo Lake Lodge on Cedar Mountain in the 1920s while practicing medicine at the same time. Aiken also served a stint in the Navy in World War II. At the age of 47, he joined the Navy and headed a surgical team in an amphibious force in the South Pacific for three years. He was discharged in 1946 as a full Naval Commander. George Russell Aiken was born on April 7, 1896, in Milford, Ohio. He grew up on farms and had a happy childhood. With the encouragement and financial help of his pharmacist father, he studied medicine at Ohio State University in Columbus. Ohio. He received his MD Degree from OSU in 1921. Hemet and married Nna Hauer at OSU. She was a nurse and got her degree theyear before Doc in 1920. Nita me-t- h her nursing to m Dec's practice. Dr. Aiken practiced for four eai-m Kentucky after getting his degree, then moved Wet m 1925. working first in Hurricane. Utah, and settling in Kanab in u-- ed a--- d't s 1931. The Aikens had two sons. Bob and Duke, who still live in the Kanab area. In Doc's early days in Kanab he had to take care of all the people's medical needs from the most horrendous car accident injuries to delivering babies and taking out tonsils. He was doctor and coroner through the wild west period of cat tie rust ling and water stealing. He hobnobbed with and treated stars during Kanab's heyday of movie making. He treated Arlene Dahl when she had severe abdominal pair. He set Omar Sharifs broken nose. Sitting in his modest brick home at 59 E. 100 South in his last years. Doc relived and was able to recount in great detail some of his more difficult and unusual operations and medical cases. He still had the steady hands of a surgeon, and they moved in consort as he would describe procedures he had performed more than half a century-earlier- . With a long list of accolades for his medical and other contributions to his community and state, Doc in recent years had been honored on numerous occasions as Grand Marshal of the local Fourth of July and West Fest" parades. Doc's most recent honor was a special tribute given by Southern Utah University in Cedar City during its Southern Utah Honors program in March. The state of Utah had been making plans to spotlight Doc in 1996 since he would have turned 100 during the statehood centennial. |