Obituary of Brendan Padraic Pearse Phibbs MD

PHIBBS, Brendan Padraic Pearse MD, FACP, FACC, medical pioneer and Bronze Star double recipient in World War II, died at age 99 on March 5, 2016 in Tucson, Arizona. Born December 3, 1916 in New York City, he grew up in Chicago, IL. He married Marie Claire (Penny) Harle June 1940, and later earned his M.D. from Northwestern in 1941. He served as a combat surgeon in the 12th Armored Division of the United States Army from 1942 - 1945, fighting through the Battle of the Bulge. A Major, he was one of the first American physicians to volunteer in the typhus- ravaged Dachau concentration camp. After the war, he completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Saint Luke's Hospital in Chicago and earned an M.S. in Physiology. In 1952 the family moved to Casper, Wyoming where he practiced Internal Medicine for 20 years, specializing in Cardiology. He set up a local Health Fund to support a successful campaign he created to prevent rheumatic heart disease which previously had ravaged the area. He led a crusade against silicosis and lung cancer among miners in bentonite and uranium mines in Wyoming, resulting in industry wide health standards to protect miners. In 1971, he moved to Tucson to join the Cardiology Department of the new University Arizona College of Medicine. He later became Chief of Cardiology at Pima County Hospital in 1975. During his medical career in Tucson, Brendan taught and mentored medical students, wrote cardiology texts, and advocated for quality universal health care. Penny Phibbs, his wife of 34 years, died in Tucson in 1975, mourned by friends in both Casper and Tucson. Brendan wrote a memoir of his WWII experiences, "The Other Side of Time", published in 1987. Awarded the Pen West award for Nonfiction, it was also chosen a Book of the Month Club Selection. Dr. Phibbs married Liana Fernandez de Castro in 1982. They shared their passions for literature, art and the outdoors until her death in 2011. Brendan was an active member of the ACLU, served on the National Board of the Audubon Society, volunteered with Tucson's Holocaust Education Committee, travelled to Navajo and Tohono O'odham American Indian communities to hold free cardiology clinics. Dr. Phibbs is survived by his brother, Roderic Phibbs, MD (Jane), their four sons, by his children, Susan Breznay (George), Henry Phibbs (Leslie Pedersen), Judith Phibbs, Hugh Phibbs (Joan Warburton), seven grandchildren and two spouses, two grandsons-in-law, two stepnieces and two stepnephews and their families and two great-grandchildren. A Memorial will be held in the Kiewit Auditorium at the Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 4:30 p.m., and a celebration for friends and family will be held at Corona Ranch, 7595 E. Snyder Rd. in Tucson on Friday, April 1, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Dr. Phibbs' memory to the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center at P.O. Box 245018, Tucson, AZ 85724. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Avalon Chapel