David Edward Peach – 50th Reunion Essay

David Edward Peach

12741 Birch Road

Anchorage, AK 99516

dpeach@mac.com

907-345-1464

Spouse(s): Patricia (1973)

Child(ren): Dolly Louise, (1976), Charles, (1978), Joseph (1981)

Grandchild(ren): Sadie, Eli; Olivia, Eva; Arthur

Education: Yale School of Medicine, MD, 1973

Career: internal medicine and gastroenterology, Anchorage, AK

College: Davenport

Yale has a warm place in my heart. My three kids all went to Princeton.

I sat in on one of my daughter’s organic chemistry classes. I was excited and fascinated, and recalled how much I loved learning organic from Dr Wintner at Yale about 22 years earlier. I emailed her professor about it. He replied, yes, Clyde Wintner was one of his best teachers also.

Succeeding in my major in chemistry was satisfying and a source of pride. But I really appreciated the liberal arts background I received as well. I took history, creative writing, 17th-century philosophy, eastern religions, Shakespeare…

Medical school (also at Yale) seemed more of a technical school. Originality was not rewarded. The assignment was more about learning this party line. I found a lot of support in a group of friends in medical school, and we have kept in touch and occasionally met up together in subsequent years.

I met my wife Patty in my second year and we started living together. Her apartment seemed nicer than Harkness Dormitory. Our wedding was June 4, 1973, two days after graduating from medical school.

I convinced Patty to go west to seek wild places and a new natural frontier. My mother died when I was in residency in internal medicine at the University of Oregon. That seemed to deflate whatever energy I had for pursuing academics and feed a desire to find the real last frontier, which is Alaska’s moniker. We moved to Anchorage in 1977. I promised we could leave after 10 years (after getting vested in the pension plan) but by then the kids didn’t want to leave Alaska, and we have remained in the same house ever since.

Maybe it’s a cliché to say, but I have been blessed with a wonderful wife and children. The kids are wonderful for who they are, but I’m pleased and impressed that they are all doctors (MD and PhDs)—internal medicine and two electrical engineers.

So what about that wilderness and last frontier? We have had many happy years of hikes, backpacking, winter camping, fishing, sailing, rafting, and six canoe trips near and above the Arctic Circle. I discovered the Grand Canyon in 2001. It is much more than the tourist attraction I had written off. Thence followed, over the years, several week-long backpacking trips alone and with family members, and two extended self-guided raft trips down the Colorado.

Our favorite summer destination, especially when the kids were little and now again in our declining years, has been a cabin 10 miles by water from “The End of the Road,” Homer, Alaska. We thrived on cabin building, crabbing, more fishing, cutting wood, more building and eventually expanding and putting in solar power. One of our biggest accomplishments has been creating the Sadie Cove Preservation Trust. We hope it will give our descendants and friends a chance at some of the fun and excitement we have experienced there.

I played hockey until too many concussions. Now I go to weight training and yoga classes. I got more serious about playing baritone saxophone, my biggest love since retirement. I played many years in a big band and now several small jazz groups as well.

Oh, by the way, I enjoyed a wonderful career in medicine and gastroenterology.

I got diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease a couple months ago. Funny how many symptoms built up over the last couple of years now finally have an explanation. I face the prospect of declining abilities and function, but after working toward my exercise prescription (80 percent of predicted maximal heart rate for 30 minutes) most every day, I look back with gratitude for all the activities I have been able to enjoy and the beauty I have already experienced, and try to appreciate the moment.