In Remembrance
Louis O. Giesel, Jr., MD (1927-2013)
T
he Louisville medical community
lost a fine pediatrician and a true
gentleman on September 27, 2013,
when Louis O. Giesel, Jr., MD, passed away
at age 86.
Louis grew up on Western Parkway (now
Northwestern Parkway) in Louisville and
developed an early love for gardening by
helping his father with a large vegetable garden and chicken coop behind their house.
Louis was a graduate of duPont Manual High
School, Class of 1944. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Louisville and was a member of the University of
Louisville School of Medicine, Class of 1950,
graduating at age 23. While at UofL, Louis
was a member of the Woodcock Society,
the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the
Phi Chi fraternity.
After medical school, Louis served in the
Public Health Service in Lawton, Oklahoma,
working with the Native Americans. I recall
Louis telling us all about how he and his new
bride, Norma, became such friends with the
Kiowa Indians that the tribal leaders invited
them to a pow-wow under the Oklahoma
stars. Louis and Norma were the only attendees who were not members of the Kiowa
tribe. Louis and Norma then moved to New
Haven, Connecticut, where Louis took a
fellowship with the Child Study Center at
Yale University.
Louis and Norma returned to Louisville
in 1956. Louis hung out his shingle in Hikes
Point, where he served as a pediatrician in
solo private practice for over 30 years. He
and Dr. Fred Pipkin and Dr. Tom Courtenay,
two other pediatricians with solo practices,
covered for each other for time away from
the office. Louis also covered for Dr. Owen
Ogden. As a result of these informal alliances, Louis was well-known and loved not
only by his own patients but also by many
patients of these other doctors.
Though busy with a thriving practice and
four children, Louis also served many years
at the Kentucky Children’s Home and as
president of the Louisville Pediatric Society.
He was an elder of the Presbyterian Church,
USA, and served as moderator of the Synod
of the Mid-South and as board chairman of
St. Matthews Area Ministries.
Louis closed his practice in 1991 in an
effort to focus on traveling with Norma and
enjoying the grandchildren, eventually totaling nine, who had begun to arrive.
Although Louis’s mobility declined in later
years, he served as an inspiration to others to
keep going and doing even when the going
and doing was difficult. Louis could often
be seen with his walker or wheelchair at a
lecture, a concert, or a worthy political or
charitable dinner.
Two of Louis’s children followed him into
medicine -- one in pediatrics and one in
ophthalmology. Louis’s patients remember
him with gratitude and affection. His family
and friends remember him as a kind and
giving person who cared deeply about each
and every one of them. LM
- Mary A. Smith, MD
January 2014
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