WILFORD EDISON PARK, M. D.

This summary was prepared for the memorial service
for Dr. Park held at Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 2, 1985.

Dr. Wilford E. Park was born on March 27, 1901 in Fair Ground, Ontario, Canada. He died on February 19, 1985 in Phoenix, Arizona and was buried in Sun City, Arizona.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Evelyn Hartman Park, of Prescott and Sun City, Arizona; daughter Betty Ponder, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada; and sons Douglas Park, of Cupertino, California; Robert Park, of Poynette, Wisconsin; James Park, and Warren Park, both of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He is also survived by a brother, Rev. Clifford G. Park, of London, Ontario, Canada.

His eleven grandchildren are: Linda Neilson, Jennifer Scott, Kevin Park, Renee Mahan, Donavon Park, Robin Park-Doob, Mischa Park-Doob, Ian Park, Catherine Park, Jonathan Park, and Daniel Park.

His seven great-grandchildren are: Jason Rhinelander, Leta Scott, Michael Scott, Jennifer Park, Carrie Park, Danielle Mahan, and Charise Mahan.

Dr. Park earned his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1927. He was elected to membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society in 1925.

After being in general practice in Brownsville, Ontario for thirteen years, he moved his family of 6 to Whitby, Ontario in January, 1942 and joined the medical staff at the shell filling plant at Ajax, Ontario. While there he did pioneering work in the prevention of TNT poisoning. From 1945-1949 he was Director of Health Services for the Atomic Energy Project at Chalk River and Hospital Administrator for Deep River, Ontario.

In late 1949, he moved his family (now seven in all) to Minneapolis, Minnesota and became Director of Industrial Health in the Minnesota Department of Health. From 1952 until his retirement in 1972, he served the Minneapolis Health Department first as Chief, Occupational Health Service and later as Director of Adult Health. His duties included protecting workers' health in the workplace and the evaluation and inspection of nursing homes in Minneapolis. He also served as Lecturer in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. He was one of the founders of the Minnesota Academy of Occupational Medicine and Surgery, an organization of physicians specializing in occupational medicine, serving as its first president. In 1973, he moved to Arizona with his wife, Evelyn.

Dr. Park was a member of many professional organizations and served on numerous community organizations on the city, county and state levels in Minnesota. He was listed in Who's Who in the Midwest and Who's Who in the West.

PREFACE

by the author's son

After my father's death in 1985, I assumed responsibility for the publication of his autobiography. From An Ontario Farm is the first of two volumes about Dr. Park's career in medicine. It covers the period from early childhood through his adult professional life in Canada. Volume II of the autobiography, A Modern Public Health Pioneer, covers his professional career as a public health official, first at the Minnesota Department of Health and later at the Minneapolis Public Health Department. His main duties included protection of the individual's health in the work place and health care of the elderly through the maintenance of high standards in the city's nursing homes. Dr. Park's original title for his autobiography as a whole was Autobiography of a Pioneer in the Two Fields of Occupational Medicine and Active Nursing Care. "Active Nursing Care" refers to his approach to caring for the aged in nursing homes.

The reader should be aware that Dr. Park has chosen to write an account of his professional rather than personal life, with the exception of the section about his childhood and youth. Although the writing progresses chronologically, not much reference is made to specific dates. Dr. Park recounts a number of incidents from his life in the form of isolated vignettes, many beginning with "One time..." or "I remember once..." and consisting of only one or two paragraphs. These recollections, taken as a whole, present an interesting and unique capsule of life in the first half of this century.

Dr. Park has separated his account into three general sections:

Childhood and Early Manhood. This includes a colorful description of his childhood growing up on the farm.

Years of Preparation. In this section he paints a picture of life at the University of Toronto in the 1920's, and what life was like for a country doctor in rural Ontario in the 1930's (including the frustrations of the lack of effective medicines and surprisingly primitive treatments).

Years of Occupational Medicine in Canada. This includes his years as chief medical officer, first at a shell filling plant during World War II, then at Canada's first atomic energy project from the last year of the war through the end of 1949.

This memoir represents the chronicle of the achievements of an important pioneer in the field of public health. The background of his early years, college years and time as a country doctor are all preliminary preparation for the major accomplishments of his medical career in protection of worker's health and improvement of nursing home standards in the care of the elderly. Dr. Park believed in the importance of preserving a record of his life and career and hoped that his work might benefit others in the future. His writing is occasionally technical; here he is speaking mainly to his peers in the medical profession. I am pleased to enable this autobiography to reach the public.