Don Edward Boyle, M.D.

Don Edward Boyle, M.D., 81 of Sioux City passed away on Thursday, December 04, 2014 at his residence. Services will be at 10:00 A.M. Monday at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Rev. Roger Madden will officiate. Entombment will be in the Logan Park Mausoleum. Visitation will be from 9:00 A.M. until 10:00 A.M. Monday at the funeral home. Online condolences may be sent to www.meyerbroschapels.com. Don was born April 29, 1933 in Humboldt, IA to Sherman and Myrtle (Blomgren) Boyle. He grew up in Perry, Ia. and after high school graduation; he went to the University of Iowa, where he pursued a B.S. degree. He served in the Air Force, where he trained as a pilot, from 1956-1959, and then stayed on in the U.S.A.F. Reserves, serving as the University of Iowa's Air Force Medical Liaison Officer until 1968. He returned to the University of Iowa after active duty to go to medical school, and graduated in 1963 with his M.D. Don did his internship in Oakland, CA and his residency back at the University of Iowa. He went on to complete his masters in Surgery, and was the first to do so at the U of Iowa. While completing his undergraduate degree, he met his wife, Carol Whitlow, when she was working as a nurse and he was working as an attendant in the University hospital. They were married in Louisiana on October 10, 1958, where he was flying B-47s and she was working for a pediatrician. Don began his general surgery practice in Sioux City, Iowa, and over the years, he held a variety of positions and had many responsibilities in addition to his private practice. Don and two colleagues were responsible for starting the emergency room rotation schedule, which eventually led to both hospitals hiring full time E.R. physicians. Don and a dear friend, Rick Vomacka, initiated the EMT program at WIT. He was a key member of the team that established Sioux City as a trauma center, and after the Flight 232 plane crash, was invited to go and speak nationally, and even internationally, about their preparation and response efforts. While serving on the National Committee on Trauma, he contributed to the manual that is used around the world to standardize training. Don also served as President of the local Heart Association. After his retirement, the University of Iowa established a "Boyle lectureship" in his honor, and yearly brings in a guest speaker known in the medical field for that event. Don knew the value and merit of hard work, from his first job helping at a grocery store in Perry, Iowa to being an award winning salesman for JC Penny while in high school. He played the sax in a dance band and also performed magic tricks at parties. In college, he held a variety of positions: night watchman, cleaning the dining rooms at the student union, picking up and delivering dry cleaning, refereeing intramural basketball games, selling advertising, and insurance policies, and helping at a funeral home, as well as working as an attendant at the psych hospital. He was a proud member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, but an even bigger fan of the Hawkeyes, following especially their football and basketball seasons enthusiastically over the years. He was preceded in death by his parents and siblings, and his son, Douglas. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carol, and their two daughters, Susan (West Des Moines) and Sarah (Troy) Hansen of Sioux City, and 5 grandchildren (Carrie Salsness, Jenni Salsness-Tvedten, Trevor and Jessica Hansen, and Nick Boyle) and a great granddaughter (Grace Salsness-Tvedten). After retiring in 1998, he and Carol moved to Okoboji full time. They so enjoyed their time there, and Don loved to spend time on the deck, watching the beautiful sunsets on the water. They spent a year in Minnesota, helping their son and grandson, and then returned to Sioux City, where they chose to live in Whispering Creek, a beautiful, active senior living community. They have been blessed with new friendships there, and an opportunity to talk with others their age about by-gone times as well as current events, and also reconnect with long time Sioux City friends. All his life, Don loved to teach and loved to learn. He was forever curious about new things, whether that was the internet that he finally had the chance to explore when he retired, or new magic tricks to impress the grandkids. He was an avid and gifted photographer, and made prints and cards that he happily shared with family and friends. A special thank you to dear friends Pat Turner and Marilyn Klinger, caring and top-notch nurses who have walked alongside us through this journey, and to the wonderful staff at Whispering Creek, as well as to his Synergy caregivers, especially Sandy, Brian, Maddie and Maggie, who took such great care of him after Don's stroke in 2013. In lieu of flowers, donations could be made to the Siouxland Food bank, or First United Methodist Church.